Salt & pepper squid | VUCA | Gandhi

Last week, I talked about awareness of self and what surrounds us. This week, I will discuss the idea of changes.

Changes happen all the time. So being aware and fixed as to what we know is useless, as what was won’t be anymore, sooner rather later.

The problem? We don’t like change!

What is your favourite food? I love Vietnamese cuisine. During my last visit to my local Vietnamese restaurant, something dawned on me…I always order the same starter: salt & pepper squid!

OK, it is really good, but could there be something else on the menu that is really good and that I would like? Probably! Have I tried it? No! Do I feel comfortable changing? Hmmmm…well….not really sure….why try something else if I really like my salt & pepper squid (it’s really really good!)?

Why am I always getting that delicious dish without even thinking about it (promise, it is exceptional!), I started to ask myself. I got wired! On autopilot! It is safe!

I am probably even reticent to change! Changing is hard!

When was the last time you changed your routine? Taking a different route to work (if you still go to work) or simply walking to work?

During the last lockdown when all the gyms were closed, I started to run regularly in the morning. After doing the same route a couple of times I decided not to do the same route twice for the next 60 days. It didn’t have to be a big change, it could have simply been the last 1k through a different loop, or extending it with an extra street… small shifts. 

It was strange at the beginning. My brain was fighting for the status quo – “Why do you want to change road? No way, you know this one, it is safe and secure.” But little by little, something fascinating happened, my brain started to get excited by the challenge of finding a new path. Before putting my running shoes on, or even just when I was getting out of bed my brain was trying to find new routes and was embracing the challenge. It became an exciting and playful game. I moved from reticent to actively searching for those changes.

Things (work, environment, people, colleagues…) change around us, and staying still is not possible so we are either changing willingly or things are changing us unwillingly. 

Over the last few years, the VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity) concept has gained greater traction. This concept is not new as it was initially described in 1985 by economists and university professors Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus in their book "Leaders. The Strategies For Taking Charge". However over the last few years, the VUCA world we live in has certainly accelerated!

In his research, Professor Peter Hawkins from Henley Business school asked this simple question: “What are the top challenges people and organisations will face in the next 20 years?”. His findings? 7 key areas will change the world:

• Unceasing and accelerating transformation

• Technological and digital revolution

• Disintermediation and Uberisation

• Hollowing out organisations and the growing complexity of the stakeholder world

• Globalisation

• Climate change

• The need to learn and adapt faster

Everything changes and will keep on changing around us. So, maybe, it is time to welcome it and order something else than salt & pepper squid!

Question:

What stops you from embracing change?

How do you feel about changing yourself?