Have you ever felt like 2020 and COVID was VUCA on steroids?  We, now we have 2021 and some of us think it’s like steroids and more.

What happens to us when we experience VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity)?  Our brains and bodies respond, just as companies, markets, economies, and governments respond; although the responses are unique and certainly not linear to each entity and individual.

What is true for individuals:

You are under stress and that affects your thinking (and body) and emotions.  Think fight, flight, freeze and then think March 2020-January 2021: it’s been a long time to be stressed.  When you are stressed, you cannot pay as good attention to the subject at hand, and you often miss important things and cues.  Not only that, but what you pay attention to is, well, what you notice and this process can become circular and negative very easily.  Finally, stress affects your memory, too and so you maybe don’t remember important things that your attention has not really noticed.  Then, you will be easily distracted under stress, especially because your attention is linked to your emotions, whether you like that. Or not.  Finally, we can easily be fooled and our attention can get us into trouble by us “believing” everything we “see” (remember the studies about this- ask if you don’t know about them).

We are much more stimulated, by the news (good and bad), by COVID, by being online all the time, through online (and other) gaming, and the list goes on.  The good news is that we can train our brains and our emotions to focus more slowly on things.  Start with some breathing exercises today and end with turning your phone/electronics off several times a day/week and reading real books or playing slower board games, or (like me today) going for a walk with the dog in the falling snow, enjoying the cold clean earth.  VUCA/COVID is a threat to each of us personally, but we can respond and take good care of ourselves, and even become more attentive in a healthy manner.

Organizations and other entities can respond to VUCA by making sure they are agile (perhaps by going “teal”) adjusting strategy and focus in real time and by not planning too far in the future (see what 2020 has taught us). They must also have a clear vision and a clear values-culture – and a leadership that is able to focus and not be distracted by the wrong things.  Of course, the main thing that must happen is that, if it’s not working, stop doing “it” immediately.  Finally, using known solutions in this case may not lead to a sustainable future so, looking for answers may be difficult, since the problems are not linear; so, looking far and wide, up and down will be necessary for getting to sustainable solutions, even though they may only work for a quarter or semester, or year.

The good news is that, like many problems, the solution starts with us and how we respond.  How do you respond to long-term stress?

Have a positive-response week!

Patricia Jehle                                       patricia@jehle-coaching.com