VUCANs:  Now that I got your attention.  You thought when you scanned this click bait title, that we were talking about Vulcans.  In the Star Trek series, Vulcans were the logical aliens with funny ears that always had to suppress their emotions.

Nope.  We’re talking about VUCANs®.  Who are they?  This is a term we invented for our books and risk products.  A VUCAN is a Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity iNhabitant.  Get it…

VUCA acronym:  What did it start?  US military colleges invented the term about 40 years ago to describe the new world of war.  Instead of two opposing armies with nuclear weapons, most wars would consist of irregular combatants with new forms of warfare such as robot, AI, and drones.

Let’s look at these acronym words a little more carefully.  What does VUCA mean:

• Volatility: Speed and magnitude of change.
• Uncertainty: Lots of unpredictable change.
• Complexity: Lots of things happening that make it difficult to understand the change.
• Ambiguity: Lack of undertanding of what’s going on.

Change happens:  People don’t like change.  It feels different and unfamiliar.  It takes us out of our comfort zone.  It means we may have less personal control.  It can result in fear of the unknown.  It can mean loss of job security.  That’s why we’re now all VUCANs.