In January 2016 the World Economic Forum published an article about the most important abilities for 2020. The first three were: critical thinking, complex problem solving, and creativity.
We hear more and more about the need for mental flexibility, change, ‘learning agility’.
In 2007-2008 Harvard wrote about the need to adapt to the context of VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity). The term was taken from the language of the US Army War College and describes the volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous context after the Cold War.
This is the exact context in which organizations operate globally.
At the end of last year, a professor from Insead, Ian Woodward, added two Ds to this concept:
Disruption (whether it is about the radical changes in technology, or about products, services, social transformations);
Diversity (this refers to cultural diversity, generation diversity, gender diversity).
Whether or not we accept these concepts which business schools come with, one thing is certain: the world I grew up in is no longer the same. The way we have done things so far is not necessarily enough, or appropriate.
The title of a book comes to mind: ‘What got you here won’t get you there’ (Marshall Goldsmith)
