Wading through unchartered waters
- SilverKey Partners
- Jun 30, 2018
- 3 min read
Deepanshu Sharma
On July 17, 1975, Apollo and Soyuz T docked, which in some ways was a symbolic start to the thawing of the cold-war. As expected, the end of this era created a new reality, and a fresh set of challenges for those whose lives were driven by managing the certainty of conflict. The eerie espionage of cold war was founded on the comfort of having clarity between 'friend' and 'foe', but now you had the Soviets and Americans meeting in space - paving way for joint crew manning the international space station. Gone was the time when one nation had to hasten their space program be the first to land on the moon. Technological advances created new possibilities. The US Army War College even coined a new term called 'VUCA', to define the new world order - a world which was Volatile-Uncertain-Complex-Ambiguous.
The industrial revolution had made its mark, but now the business world was getting ready to be shaken and stirred by multiple such transformational forces. The advent of computers; the ubiquitous proliferation of the internet; the dot-com bust; the banking collapse; the birth of a mobile-first, cloud-first world - with technology as the democratic force.
Today, more than ever, the world continues to be volatile as the next wave is still in the making - and by all indications, it will stay that way for a long, long time to come. Artificial intelligence, augmented reality, autonomous vehicles, internet of things and block-chain are just a few of those emerging technologies which are still evolving - some seeking a befitting application, others waiting to be proven, and a few pushing ethical boundaries.
In such an environment, businesses cannot rely on the lessons learnt from the past to shape the future - every convention is bound to get challenged. Including the new found beliefs. Microsoft says, "I love open source"; Uber has taken it upon itself to make transportation smarter, with fewer cars and greater access; SpaceX and Blue Origin are the new NASA; and an online bookseller has turned the ownership of server infrastructure upside down.
The social fabric has catapulted from convention to revolution: from male dominated society to meritocracy, irrespective of gender, race, age, ideologies and orientations. From respect for age and wisdom to respecting youth and agility. Beliefs and practices get challenged everyday - and new ones get challenged even sooner.
Nothing is permanent! Nothing stays static!
Ethics are under question. Conventions are meant to be broken. Safe is now a dirty four letter word. The hare is 'smarter' than the turtle.
So, what is the implication for business leaders today? I’d propose that we deploy VUCA to tackle VUCA:
Values, as the guiding light, because elasticity of ethical borders will be tested everyday
Unconventional, as new approaches will have to be tried, to deal with an uncertain future
Courage, to put your money where the mouth is; to take the path never trodden; and to live with the consequences
Agility, in execution, and then for course correction, acting on insights drawn from the lessons learnt today
Because this is easier said than done, businesses today need a judicious mix of the old and the new. The energy and un-hinged confidence of youth, blended with gravity of intuition brewed with age and experiences. It's no longer either or - it must be both! Working together, for the same cause.
Comentarios