Making sense of VUCA

Making Sense of VUCA

Cutting through the uncontrolled nature of business today


We don’t need to tell you, but business has been crazy over the past five years. From Brexit to the pandemic, myriad uncertainties have stretched even the most accomplished organisations. While some have benefitted, most enterprises have struggled to find their niche in a rapidly changing world, thus the term VUCA has emerged once again to describe our economic as-is. 

The current emergence of the VUCA term in a business sense owes its origins to the post-cold war environment and latterly the stuttering economic recovery after the credit crunch in 2008. There is much commentary about VUCA in the business community, but in short, it means we’re all in the same storm, but in different boats. 

Is VUCA just another acronym? 

We don’t think so. VUCA is important in today’s environment because it’s not just recovery from the pandemic which affects business. If you consider every other uncertainty such as fiscal pressures from inflation and rising interest rates, the ecological agenda and a populist political party in power, VUCA is not just important but essential to understand. 

What does VUCA mean: 

V – Volatility – This is all about speed of change, fluctuations in demand and market turbulence. 

U – Uncertainty – This is all about the ability to predict the future – or not! 

C – Complexity – This relates to the size of puzzle we’re being asked to solve. This could relate to data, research and general uncertainty. 

A – Ambiguity – This sums up the entire acronym. Because of V, U & C and the general ‘fog of war’, it’s often difficult to make clear decisions when under pressure.

What can Momentum do to help? 

Like you, we’ve been in the eye of the storm for months. Our own skills and talents have been stretched every day, and since the start of the year, we’ve been reinventing ourselves to offer even better services in the VUCA environment. 

Some of the ways we can help are to offer a second pair of eyes, to give a different perspective on business issues and to act as a facilitator to sales and marketing teams: helping them convert more prospects and grow their prime contact lists. 

You can find out much more about our services throughout our site, but the key to our success for over twenty years is our people. We are a team of individuals who are born collaborators! This team spirit allows us to pool our knowledge, resources and skills and to offer each of our partners complete stability, with a steely determination to deliver success!

Good data organisation is essential in a VUCA world 

Since the turn of the millennium, we’ve talked about CRM. The ability to warehouse, process and recall data in real-time is becoming increasingly important, and the days of operating on manual lists or excel spreadsheets is well and truly behind us. 

Remember, one of the issues in a VUCA world is ambiguity. Good CRM can help overcome ambiguity by serving the right information at the right time. The ability to rely on a single source of truth helps in so many ways, but when correctly implemented, CRM can help reduce the size of the waves on your particular ocean and assists with setting clear goals for the future. 

What if we just don’t know how to proceed? 

We’re experts in working with partners of all sizes, from OMB’s to multinational enterprises. Whether you’re working on your own or as part of team, outsourcing some or all of your data analysis and sales / marketing strategy to Momentum can help. 

Getting going with your strategy can start with a brief meeting, which allows our team to understand your aims. We’ll then collaborate to define a support strategy and potential outcomes and get moving straight away. 


Now you understand VUCA, let us help: 

If you think you know what you need, give us a call to chat it through. We can get going straight away. Call us now on 02476 662 004.

If you would like some advice to talk through where Momentum can help your company flatten the waves of business in 2021, book a Discovery Meeting with Heather. Email us with your details and we’ll do the rest: discovery@momentumpartnership.com

Making sense of VUCA