Leading in turbulent times: Learning to live with paradox

Bolden, Richard

Abstract

In the late 1990s the U.S. Army War College developed the acronym VUCA to refer to the volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous nature of political relations in the post- cold war era. It did not take long, however, for people to realize that these issues had implications for organizations well beyond the military and in 2009 Bob Johanssen, former president and CEO of the Institute for the Future, popularized the concept in his book Leaders Make the Future.

In today’s interconnected world you don’t have to look far for examples of VUCA issues: the 2008 financial crash and its continuing impact on the global economy; the Arab Spring of 2010-11, subsequent rise of the jihadist so-called ‘Islamic State’, and the mass displacement of people across the Middle East and Europe; the forthcoming referendum on Britain’s membership in the European Union; even the trials and tribulations of candidates in the 2016 U.S. election campaigns. All of these highlight the speed at which apparent stability can break down and new realities emerge. They also vividly illustrate the contested and ambiguous nature of ‘truth’ – never before have we had access to so much information (apparently 90% of the world’s data was generated in the past two years), yet we seem to struggle more than ever to create and apply useful knowledge.

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Citation

Bolden, R. (2016). Leading in turbulent times: Learning to live with paradox

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 1, 2016
• Publication Date: May 1, 2016
• Deposit Date: May 13, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: May 14, 2019
• Journal: ILA Member Connector
• Peer Reviewed: Not Peer Reviewed
• Keywords: leadership, paradox, uncertainty, change
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/913527
• Publisher URL: http://www.ila-net.org
• Additional Information: Additional Information : This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final published version is available here: http://www.ila-net.org.