From VUCA to VUCA 2.0: Surviving Today to Prosper Tomorrow

The acronym VUCA has been in our lexicon for some time. Bob Johansen, a distinguished fellow at the Institute for the Future, used the term, attributed originally to the US Army War College (Garras, 2010), to represent Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity (Johansen, 2012). Just for a moment, think back to 2012. Now think about 2020. I imagine we would all agree that the world in 2012 was almost calm compared to what we lived through in 2020. What foresight Johansen had when he wrote his book! We all have periods in our lives where we experience VUCA. What made this past year so different is that we all experienced VUCA together, across the globe. All of us can provide insight into the disruption we experienced in 2020, in our own lives and in society in general. How we reacted to those dramatic and intense changes caused us to be more resilient or more fragile. At certain points last year, finding something positive in the news became a challenge. I know I found myself saying, “This can’t get any worse,” and then it did. In March in the United States, we were all concerned about the onset of the coronavirus; in October, we saw a dramatic increase in new cases and hospitalizations. In the summer and fall, we saw a record number of hurricanes, widespread wildfires, drought, reactions to unresolved racism, and the turmoil of national elections. Major holidays, traditionally celebrated with parties and with family and friends, were redefined. In other words, the world as we knew it changed dramatically. To further complicate matters, we experienced an infodemic, defined as the spread of rapid and wide-reaching accurate and inaccurate information (Merriam-Webster, 2020). One way to look at VUCA is to see it as a depressing future. How will we be able to survive in such a tumultuous, unpredictable state? Another way to look at VUCA is to accept that this is the normal-for-now state of affairs and figure out how to cope. We already demonstrated we could do that in nursing, including in our educational programs, when we quickly responded to the pandemic by the care we provided and the changes we made to ensure that students could progress through our educational programs. One way to look at VUCA is to see it as a depressing future. How will we be able to survive in such a tumultuous, unpredictable state? Another way to look at VUCA is to accept that this is the normal-for-now state of affairs and figure out how to cope. No one I have talked with has said this year was easy, and now, in 2021, we must ask ourselves two questions: How can we maintain the intensity of our response to the strong demand for well-prepared nurses? How can we move to a proactive rather than reactive stance? Most of us who have talked about VUCA since 2012 have not focused equally on the other VUCA that Johansen references. It provides the answer to how to deal effectively with where we are now. For the purpose of clarity, let us think of the second VUCA as VUCA 2.0: Vision, Understanding, Clarity, and Agility. We should focus on VUCA 2.0 for thrival, not mere survival, as these are skills of leaders, including educators! VISION Think of all the changes that have happened in the last few years. What do you want to keep? What do you want to relinquish? Being clear about our preferred futures is a critical step to being future directed. To address specific aspects of the future, I invite you to consider the NLN Vision Series documents, online at http://www.nln.org/newsroom/nln-position-documents/nln-living-documents. UNDERSTANDING The challenge for us is to develop a lesser used communication skill, that is, listening. Educators focus on speaking and writing because our role is one of dissemination. As is true of leaders in all professions, the time we spend listening is typically less than the time we spend delivering messages. Yet, listening helps us understand issues from different perspectives. As an example, the NLN Board of Governors devoted a good piece of its board development in 2020 to addressing the “isms” in society, especially racism. Because we are all products of our past, learning how we are different from and similar to others seemed to be a good and positive starting point to addressing issues of systemic racism in nursing. CLARITY Johansen says that clarity requires commitment, not blind faith. Think about how you view your purpose in life — I mean the big purpose. If we listen to the words of frontline nurses reentering hospitals that care for COVID-19 patients, we will find examples of the big purpose. These nurses are not there because it is their job or because they need the money, although both statements are likely true. They are there because humanity is threatened by a previously unknown virus and they can help restore people or help them transition in death. Last spring, we as educators were paid to transition courses and experiences, and we did that. We sought new and better ways to provide learning because we were temporarily free to do what needed to be done, without certain restrictions that may have limited us in the past. We were clear: producing the next generation of practitioners was our goal. AGILITY The word pivot was used frequently during 2020. Pivoting requires agility. If we continue on a fixed path, it is hard to be agile. Sometimes the changes that occurred were slight movements; sometimes they were more reminiscent of pirouettes or giant leaps. Earlier, I said we are in the normal-for-now state, and that is critical to thinking about agility. If we are not at a new and defined place, this means we have to remain agile to be able to respond to or anticipate the next big changes. At some point during the fall, I noticed myself and others saying, “Well, it’s 2020, isn’t it?” suggesting that we were growing numb to being bombarded with change. We must not become numb to being agile, however. Our challenge in 2021 will be to continue to be as creative as we can be, to innovate wherever possible, and to focus on VUCA 2.0. With special thanks to Dr. Beverly Malone and Dr. Janice Brewington!