Created in American military schools more than three decades ago, VUCA – volatility (V), uncertainty (U), complexity (C) and ambiguity (A) – pointed to the market situation at the time and indicated the behavioral skills necessary for the army to face extremely challenging situations.
VUCA became popular in the business world from 2008 onwards, in response to the economic crisis and the need for market adaptation.
Since then, critical thinking, resilience, strategic vision and leadership have become some of the most valued skills in the corporate environment.
But in 2020, everything changed. The arrival of the pandemic completely destabilized the social and economic ecosystem, bringing significant changes to the job market and giving way to the BANI world.
The BANI world is here to stay
The BANI world – a concept structured by the American anthropologist, author and futurist Jamais Cascio – has gained strength and become an important indicator for the current corporate scenario.
The definitions of the BANI acronym are Brittle, Anxious, Nonlinear e incomprehensible – or fragile, anxious, non-linear and incomprehensible – and represent unpredictable, chaotic situations that leave us completely out of control and force us to react quickly to the new.
These are four words that aim to define an extremely complex scenario that profoundly affects the job market and people. So, what would be the antidotes for each of them?
The antidotes of the BANI World
brittle
In the BANI era, people feel like everything could fall apart at any moment. If volatility was prevalent in the VUCA world, today it has gained so much strength that it has made everything very fragile and unsound.
So, what should we do? Fragility can be managed through resilience, determination and freedom.
anxious
Anxiety, that feeling that most people are familiar with and that makes decision-making very complicated, is an open door for individuals to constantly feel lost.
So, how about we try to dilute anxiety through empathy and mindfulness today?
nonlinear
Non-linearity is the unpredictable. Anything can happen while we are still in social isolation, amidst chaos with no end in sight.
To live with this scenario, it is essential to develop skills such as patience, resignation and flexibility.
incomprehensible
Incomprehensibility represents the feeling of looking for answers and not finding them, even with all and any information at the click of a button.
The big key here is to use your intuition, obviously, without leaving aside the experiences you have acquired.
This text was signed by the vice-president of Mercado Eletrônico, Luiz Gastão Bolonhez, and published in Estadão.
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