I’m hearing the shorthand “VUCA” a good bit lately. The acronym for volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity seems to reflect the world many of us find ourselves in these days.

The danger of VUCA is that these circumstances can distract us, or even derail us, from achieving our mission. VUCA can make us tentative and unclear in our communication, increase the time of decision-making, spur analysis paralysis, confuse activity with impact, or result in the urgent supplanting the important.

For me, focusing on the mission becomes especially important when conditions of VUCA are on the rise.

When dealing with volatility, fast change and unpredictable futures, envisioning change impacts—or change options—from the lens of mission criticality will help chart the path.

When uncertainty and unpredictability prevail, doubling down on the mission can help to evaluate possibilities.

Mission clarity will help when navigating complex issues and in untangling complicated relationships. 

And, when the fog of ambiguity leads to a lack of clarity and misunderstanding, clarifying messaging, ideas, options and outcomes by tying them to how they support the mission can clear the view.

Unfortunately, VUCA is something that we have to deal with more than we would like. Evaluating these potential disrupters with mission clarity is a key to success as we L.E.A.D.