Agility – How to be a nimble thinker
By Liggy Webb
Strength without agility is a mere mass
Fernando Pessoa
VUCA is an acronym that derives from military vocabulary and reflects the volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity of some situations in our lives that we may well find ourselves in. Being able to positively turn VUCA around by cultivating vision, understanding, clarity and agility is key to creating an environment where people can thrive in challenging and changing times. There are many essential skills that we all need to equip ourselves with so that we can cope better. Here are four questions that are well worth considering with regards to challenges and changes in your life:
How well do you embrace change?
Change is the one inevitable in all our lives and sometimes we cant do anything about it. If we constantly resist change, we will end up wasting precious time in our lives being unhappy and defensive when we could turn it all around by embracing and accepting change.
Are you open minded?
Your mind is like a parachute: it works best when it is open. Sometimes we can drag the baggage of the past and superimpose it on to situations without being open-minded and taking a fresh perspective.
Can you relax and go with the flow?
Going with the flow sometimes is the best approach. It may help to think of yourself as a boat in a storm. If you turn against the waves they will crush you, if you go with them they will carry you more comfortably.
Do you have a positive mental attitude?
Having a positive attitude about change is the right mind set to cultivate. If we go into a change situation believing that it is negative then we are more likely to experience negative outcomes.
In Summary
There is no single silver bullet solution to surviving and indeed thriving in turbulent times however challenging yourself to change some of your behaviours and perspectives may be a very good place to start.
What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly
Richard Bach
Follow Liggy on Twitter @liggyw for advice and tips on how to be more resilient or visit www.liggywebb.com