What is VUCA?

By Simon Adejumo, Class of 2025

The JRHS Entrepreneurship class recently listened to a podcast by Steven Carter (theseedtreegroup.com) in which he spoke about leadership and organizational management difficulties that can be summed up into four categories: Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity, or VUCA for short. These four difficulties are prevalent throughout our culture today. Due to things like the volatile economy, anxiety over the future, distrust of leadership, and other problems, many students are ill-equipped to manage their future success as well as present circumstances. 

This is why entrepreneurial education is such an invaluable asset. It helps students navigate these uncertain times by teaching them to think critically and with forethought to cope with and adapt to a rapidly changing world and thrive in it. This mindset benefits students and others in preparing for the future. The mounting problems in the world can become our total focus, seemingly impossible to overcome. We might feel like Sisyphus, continually toiling under the pressure of solving problems. However, if we look at problems as opportunities, we open up our thinking to seek improvements, advancements, and new ideas. We grow beyond the present boundaries of our situation by thinking more creatively and with a wider scope. Turning problems into opportunities allows us to make growth-oriented decisions in our businesses as well as in our personal lives.