This is the last in a series of four articles on what strategy should look like in a world that is volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA). In the previous three articles I outlined the demands put on strategy by a world that is volatile, uncertain and complex. In this last article I close this discussion with outlining how your…
Strategy as we know it, is all about simplicity. Organizations are supposed to choose from three or four generic strategies, come up with simple, preferably one-phrase mission and vision statements and ideally have one key objective to which everything else contributes. Furthermore, the strategy toolbox is full of simple models and two-by-two matrices – SWOT, BCG matrix, growth matrix,…
In a world that is characterized by volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (VUCA), we can question whether the idea of strategy as we have known it for long is still valid. After all, under such challenging conditions, it is far from obvious that long-term plans, objectives and systematic analysis still serve their purpose. And if…
Traditionally, strategy is about making long-term plans and identifying the actions and resources that are needed for realizing those plans. Such a straightforward definition of strategy might have worked for a long time, but it doesn’t really work anymore in today’s volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) world. After all, how can you make reliable long-term plans…
It is quite popular to question the role of strategy in today’s volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) world. Strategy under such challenging conditions is pointless, so the argument goes, because things change so fast and are so uncertain that any strategy is outdated as soon as it is formulated. And the world is too complex and ambiguous to…
Wherever we look around us, we find claims and concerns that the world is increasingly getting out of control. Whether it is the business press, the media more generally, or our personal conversations, we are witnessing an increased feeling of uncertainty, turbulence, and change. This feeling has recently culminated in the notion of ‘VUCA’, the idea that…
Throughout the past decades we find numerous terms in the popular business press and academic literature that refer to an increasing inability to grasp the world and deal with the things happening around us. Examples include uncertainty, turbulence, rapid change, dynamism, disruption, complexity, hyper-competition, high-velocity markets and flux. For a couple of years, the notion of…
