In order to make sense of the world, we humans watch for, recognize, and interpret patterns. When there’s a problem, we ask ourselves how today’s problem is like a problem we have previously solved, apply our previous experience, and…voila! Problem solved.

The trouble is, many of the problems we are currently facing are unprecedented. No one has ever seen them, nor solved them. There are no time-honored approaches, no known data sets that can solve the problems of our volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous (VUCA*) world. Most days, it feels like we are at the bleeding edge of the frontier.

Last century, there were specific skills (for example, communication skills, conflict resolution, team building, and strategic thinking) that all strong leaders accrued and used. What used to be leadership competencies gained over the arc of a career are now the basics. And even those who have mastered these competencies are unprepared for what they now must decide and solve. In a setting where the handiest tool of all might be a crystal ball, it takes a new set of navigational skills to survive and thrive in our workplaces and our world.

Most of us in the West were trained in the professional model that prized “expertise.” To have deep knowledge and experience about a particular “something” is what guaranteed your professional success. The more content you had mastered, the better able you were to succeed. Growing yourself professionally and making meaningful workplace contributions had less to do with who you WERE, and more with what you KNEW. And most of the problems we faced had solutions.

Today, being an expert and a specialist is not enough, and worse, it can even make you part of the problem. Because today, we are dealing at the frontiers of humanity–a place where no one has been and where no one could possibly be a content expert. And, where being too narrow in focus interferes with one’s ability to actually scope and address our problems.

Now, more than ever, “it takes a village.”

And maneuvering seamlessly with a village, at the edge of uncharted territory, is WAY different than having deep content knowledge about a particular topic.

If we see our world as a set of interconnected forces–some seen and predictable, others not–then we immediately recognize that we need to tap into a web of other humans with different intelligences and knowings in order to solve our shared problems. It is pretty clear that everything affects EVERYTHING, and nothing can be considered or solved in a vacuum. What happens “over there” affects “over here.”

This forces us to orient ourselves like intrepid explorers to unknown lands might–using not just what we already know, but also what we sense might be viable options, after deep consideration of varied input, within and outside our recognized expertise. The knowledge we had once relied on to advance our individual careers and lives is only a small part of the toolkit. Other key elements are:

-an ability to contact one’s deep inner knowing in order to sense a way forward

-having confidence and humility about what I know and can offer to others

-being curious about how “the problem” affects other people–and how I might unknowingly be adding to the problem myself

-respecting what other people bring to our shared endeavors, without making my skills, perspective or concerns more important than theirs

Rather than being purveyors of our own skill sets, VUCA environments ask us to navigate, with others, in the murk. And THIS asks us to cultivate an entirely different set of traits.

Get your journals out, and answer these:

How would you rate your sensing skills, your ability to read what is happening and what wants to happen?

How strong is your ability to think across disciplines, functions, and groups?

How sharp is your critical thinking?

How adaptable are you? How much do you foot drag and complain when the terrain changes?

What do you do with disappointments and failures? How resilient are you?

How willing are you to subjugate your personal desires for the good of the whole?

How good are you at seeing the connections between apparently unconnected people, ideas, or endeavors?

And maybe most importantly, how have you cultivated your ability to tolerate ambiguity? Are you so uncomfortable that you prefer certainty now to waiting for things to unfold and guide you? Can you be patient when necessary?

VUCA environments ask us not to rest on the intellectual laurels of what we know, but to reside in places of “not knowing.” This takes courage, self restraint, and discernment.

I encourage you to answer these questions for yourself (noting new ones that arise as a result.) No doubt, you will find many areas where you will need to expand your capacity. Here are some options for next steps:

-Start or join a discussion group, book club, salon (or whatever format), to talk about navigating in VUCA territory. Talk about big ideas, big fears, “big bets.” The idea is to connect, and vent, fret, hope, dream, and act together.

-Get a coach. Or engage in peer coaching.

-Read. I’d recommend “Leading from the Emerging Future” (Otto Scharmer & Katrin Kaufer) and “Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World” (David Epstein). Please let me know what books or podcasts you recommend.

-Get in the habit of asking yourself, “what do I believe and how could I be wrong?” (Question courtesy of Jennifer Garvey Berger, https://www.cultivatingleadership.co.nz/our-team/jennifer-garvey-berger)

-Experiment. Ask what wants to emerge in you, and try that.

The old way of living and working is gone. The new way is emerging but it hasn’t yet arrived. To paraphrase Martha Beck, “we don’t know where we’re going or how to get there, but we move at dawn.”