Can VUCA Serve as a Framework for How Superintendents Address COVID-19 Planning?

This past week I reviewed the VUCA leadership concept to determine whether it could serve as a potential framework for helping superintendents and their teams as they plan to reopen schools sometime this year.  I found the concept useful as it was designed to address crisis conditions and to assist leaders in breaking down the volume of information confronted when dealing with challenges like COVID-19. 

In today’s post, I want to unpack the concept a bit and outline how it might be valuable.  If you have never heard of VUCA keep reading as it might be of interest to you in handling a variety of leadership challenges.

Initially conceived in the late 1980s by leadership gurus Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus and later popularized by the U.S. Army War College, VUCA stands for Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity.  Leaders, at times, face circumstances (like we see today) for which there is no model or example.  Situations like this are unique, difficult and oftentimes require a rapid response.

In a Harvard Business Review article written by Nathan Bennett and G. James Lemoine the authors speak to how leaders can approach challenges in each of the four VUCA categories.  Bennett and Lemoine developed a chart to convey this information and a link to the document is provided as an attachment to this newsletter.

Briefly, if the challenge is Volatile it is likely “unexpected or unstable and may be of unknown duration, but it’s not necessarily hard to understand.”  As an example, we know that there is community spread of COVID-19, but it is not clear how prevalent it may become once school is ultimately back in session.  So, schools will develop safety procedures, but varying levels of response will need to be built in based upon the potential for an evolving situation.

The current challenge is Uncertain from the perspective that we know the virus impacts children, but it is not clear to what extent.  In such scenarios Bennett and Lemoine encourage us to “invest in information – collect, interpret and share” as much data as possible and constantly analyze how what is learned might be applied.

Complexity at this stage comes through the volume information available, the lack of clarity regarding how to respond, and the fact that the situation is constantly changing.  To deal with complexity we must count on specialists or experts (medical experts in this situation) to determine our response.  We must constantly reach out to them and use their data, guidelines and recommendations in our planning and decision-making processes.

As I stated at the beginning of this post there is no model for this current situation; no precedents exist – therefore what we face is Ambiguous.  To respond when faced with ambiguity we must act but do so from the perspective of trying interventions.  In other words, we must frame what we are doing as helping the organization learn and become better as we progress.  A good example of this would be the distance learning most districts engaged in this past spring.  As schools plan for distance learning this fall, the efforts are more sophisticated and will ultimately be more effective.  The reason for this is that distance learning is becoming less ambiguous as we refine these processes.

I hope this information was of help to you and that you might consider how the VUCA concept can apply in the current situations and others you might face as time progresses.  Please provide your thoughts and comments below and as always remember that we all gain wisdom and understanding when we share with each other!