2020 – what a year
If you like certainty and stability, 2020 will have been laden with challenges. As the new year begins, it is customary to reflect on the ups and downs of the past twelve months; there may have been magical moments, perhaps some regrets and of course the impact of COVID-19.
So how was it for you? Having set a number of resolutions and goals in January when the world felt different, how many did you reach? Perhaps you did a reset or abandoned them altogether. If we knew in December 2019 what we know now…but we don’t have the benefit of hindsight. We can, however, try to make sense of what has happened and equip ourselves for the inevitable twists and turns that lie ahead.
A great management acronym VUCA was first coined in 1987 following the collapse of the USSR; the US Army War College developed a response to the seismic change to what has been a previous single enemy: volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. VUCA captures the essence of what we are experiencing in the here and how, helping us to understand and frame why things feel so difficult.
Volatility refers to the speed of change which we currently see not just in a sector or market but across the world, resulting in fluctuations in the market and demands (remember the disappearance of toilet rolls and flour from our supermarket shelves).
Uncertainty reflects to the extent to which we can, with any confidence, predict the future. The impact of the pandemic, climate change, the death of George Floyd and more recently the US elections (noting the unprecedented reaction to the result from the current president) have added to uncertainty.
Complexity is about the number of factors, their variety and the relationships between them. Where we have a greater number of factors or variety, this will result in greater complexity in the environment – this in turn is enhanced if the factors are interconnected.
Ambiguity is the final element and is centred on a lack of clarity about how we should interpret something or find meaning. If we again use the pandemic as an example, we have seen incomplete, inaccurate and contradictory information at various points, making it impossible to draw conclusions.
In this context we can feel overwhelmed or that there is a lack of meaningful space to reflect on what is happening around us and adjust to the situation. How might we equip ourselves to manage going forward? There is a great emphasis on resilience and it has never felt more relevant than now. According to Google, resilience can be described as the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness. It is essentially how we adapt to adversity; when things don’t go according to plan, resilience is our ability to adapt and bounce back from the resulting stress that these events will cause. Stress cannot be avoided but we can learn to manage it – some can even thrive on it. Building our resilience is a key skill which can be developed and strengthened; this in turn is of benefit not only to us but those around us as we are able to manage our emotions more effectively.
Things we can do to build our resilience:
- Look after yourself – we all know this stuff, but it is often when we are particularly stressed that the basics rules are set aside – just when we need them most. The basics are: get enough sleep and exercise, eat well and remember that ‘five a day‘ is the absolute minimum.
- Remain connected/seek support – don’t face things alone; turn to friends, family, seek professional support if that’s what you need. Get a coach or a mentor but most importantly, don’t face things alone.
- Have a positive mindset – evidence suggests that building and maintaining a positive mental image of what the future will be is good for resilience and can also benefit physical wellbeing.
- Embrace change – we need to adapt to ever-changing circumstances and our ability to be flexible in both our thinking and behaviour are important.
- Live to learn – every one of us will experience adversity at some point; there will be loss and disappointments. The greater our ability to leverage the challenges as opportunities to learn, grow and build creative solutions.
- Find meaning and purpose – We can strengthen resilience by having a sense of purpose, and through the creation of meaning. This helps us to know what we are working towards and why. Where that purpose is being in service of others, whether it be volunteering or acts of kindness, it can boost our persistence when the going gets tough. Take a look at other suggestions.
We can become paralysed when looking globally at what is happening, the many examples of suffering and the continuing uncertainty. Don’t wait for ambiguity to disappear – it may be a long way off. Be proactive and focus on those things that are within your circle of influence, set your goals and be ambitious and positive for the future…2021 will be different.
Look after yourself.