The VUCA concept has been trendy for a while to describe the modern complex world: Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous. I am not quite sure all of those that used this term really understood what it meant. The Covid-19 pandemics has provided an interesting example and probably a realization for many!
We actually should not be astonished by such events in the modern world. Because of globalisation any such events becomes global much more quickly than before. This crisis will probably go down in history books as one of the fastest spreading crisis throughout the world, where worldviews and appreciation of the situation have changed drastically from one day to the next. Still, there have been such crisis before and there will be in the future. Only, changes happen now much faster and in a more unpredictable manner.
When spirits will get quieter after the crisis, we’ll certainly see that the global economy was ready anyway for a shake-up as it does every decade or so. The Covid-19 was a strong initiator, more so because of the impact of the initial event. New equilibrium will be found for a few years, with probably western democracies weakened compared to Asia. As any catastrophic event, it will lead to a new world stability model – for a while only.
The funny thing is really that the proponents of VUCA got probably overwhelmed too by the violence of the crisis. Welcome to the collaborative age!
