VUCA Teams
Volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous environments come in all shapes and sizes. The acronym VUCA was created in order to describe a post cold-war world after the 1990’s.
Volatile - accelerating rate of change
Uncertainty - lack of predictability
Complexity - interconnectedness, cause-and-effect forces
Ambiguity - high probability of mis-reads and misunderstandings
VUCA does not have to be huge either - it just has to have all four criteria. In fact, in the information technology industry, a complex system integration project requiring multiple technologies, vendors and staffing companies can create an environment that can be described as VUCA.
Suppose that you are creating an integrated criminal justice system that moves data between disparate vendor systems. Now imagine that each vendor producing each of the integrated systems uses a different approach to their projects. This is a complex, volatile, uncertain and ambiguous environment. Not only are there technology differences, but there are process and approach differences as well. Throw in an offshore vendor with a strict contract limiting what they can and can’t o and you definitely have a VUCA environment.
So how do you build a functional team in a VUCA environment situation? Most people start by looking for specialists in each discipline and throw them together into a team and hope the combination of people works out. But there are two simple steps that can help improve your probability of success. First, pick your team leadership and associated process. Second, pick your specialists carefully to match your team leadership to avoid gaps.
Team Leadership / Architects / Analysts
Best Method: Leverage A Polymath
The best way to create forward momentum on a team in a VUCA environment is to recognize that you need at least one individual in leadership role that is a broad thinker, a forward thinker, someone deeply familiar with multiple disciplines on a team, a dot connector, or someone that thrives in complexity and breaks it down into simple terms. This is a Polymath
Alternate Method: Leverage a Monomath
If you put a Monomath in a leadership role in a VUCA environment, then you will need to augment the team with enough other monomaths plus a defined process to get a result. Collaboration will be needed. You might want to also consider eliminating polymaths on this team unless they are extraordinarily patient because they will quickly become frustrated with the slow pace and the methodical tedious process (from their perspective). A collaborative process can be slow, especially with a large number of contributors to the planning process.
Team Contributors / Individual Contributors
On a VUCA team you will also need a series of specialists for each skill needed on the project. These people are going to thrive in the raw details of one aspect of a project. Pick these people carefully because you will need them to define the detail and be able to communicate those details to a Polymath to aid in adding the context around the detail.
