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Management for Professionals
Sharda S. Nandram
Puneet K. Bindlish Editors
Managing
VUCA Through
Integrative Self-
Management
How to Cope with Volatility,
Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity
in Organizational Behavior
Management for Professionals
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/10101
Sharda S. Nandram • Puneet K. Bindlish
Editors
Managing VUCA
Through Integrative
Self-Management
How to Cope with Volatility,
Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity
in Organizational Behavior
Editors
Sharda S. Nandram Puneet K. Bindlish
Praan Group Praan Group
Halfweg, The Netherlands Halfweg, The Netherlands
Nyenrode Business Universiteit
Breukelen
The Netherlands
Faculty of Management Studies—WISDOM
Banasthali Vidyapith
Jaipur, Rajasthan, India
Life Is a Journey
Surviving in a hostile world seems to have become the Zeitgeist. A world full of
volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity, so much so that academicians
have coined this apprehension now as the “VUCA world”. The editors have brought
together in this book a wide variety of approaches and considerations from
scientists from Europe, Asia, Oceania, Australia and Africa. The overview is
compelling; several of the contributions are heartfelt. But then the question is,
has it ever been different? Does our present time and age stand out? Is this not
inherent in the structure of life itself?
Browsing through historic literature, this seems to be the case. Some religions in
ascertaining this quality conclude that “life is a struggle” and all we can do is sit out
this lifetime and hope for a better situation in the hereafter. Other philosophies and
religions point at the relativity of this point of view—life is a struggle only at the
surface level of life. The inherent structure of a VUCA outside life is the invitation
or challenge to turn inward. This is what many authors indicate: there are levels of
life and living, and the journey of life is to find the inner core, which is the opposite
of the VUCA world. The world is volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous, as
long as that is all there is: as a ship on a wild sea without an anchor. But if one would
be able to get “grounded” and connected to the inner Self, the experience of this
same VUCA world may look quite different. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,
and VUCA as well.
And the eye of the beholder is determined by his or her consciousness. Maharishi
Mahesh Yogi says “Knowledge is structured in consciousness, and knowledge is
different in different states of consciousness.” VUCA perception of the world may
be the most underdeveloped state of consciousness, waking or dreaming—aching
for growth and development. In development to higher states of consciousness,
from transcendental through unity consciousness, VUCA is not the threat, it is a
reminder and creates the necessity for development.
As such it is explained in one of the oldest and most well-known scriptures, the
Bhagavad Gita. The Bhagavad Gita sings the song of life; it presents Arjuna with
vii
viii Foreword
the most impossible choice at the battlefield of life: do not do anything and spare
your relatives and friends—keep peace in a VUCA environment, or battle for
righteousness and sever family ties. This was an impossible choice within the
VUCA state of consciousness.
In Maharishi’s commentary, it is explained that this is indeed the quintessence of
life; no VUCA situation can be solved on its own level. It needs to be transcended to
a higher or best the highest level: “Nistray gunyo bhav Arjuna!” is Krishna’s most
essential guidance. Maharishi explains that this indeed is the most profound lesson
of the Bhagavad Gita:—be without three gunas, step out of the relative aspect of life
and go towards Transcendental Consciousness. Do not try to solve the problem, any
problem, on its own level. Do not perceive the world within its own context only.
Step out, transcend towards the higher Self, then Nature will take over and guide
you and the world to higher levels of achievement and fulfilment.
Managing VUCA through Integrative Self-Management is full with these kinds
of creative insights, integrative self-management and expansion of consciousness,
which makes that the current situation is evaluated from a broader perspective and
eventually big problems become small problems. Volatility, uncertainty, complex-
ity and ambiguity are not perceived anymore as unwelcome threats, but have
become the ripples in warm bath, nurturing life and stimulating progress. “Yogastah
kuru karmani”—established in Being, perform action—is Krishna’s final advice to
Arjuna. This is ideal living in a VUCA world.
Congratulations to Sharda and Puneet to bring all these diversities of views and
thoughtful approaches together in one work.
The editors have played a pivotal role by being Nimitt (enablers) and performing
their Swadharma (self-duty) towards the society and in particular academics
through this book. Their work will initiate an important discourse on Swavalamban
(self-reliance) and Swaraaj (self-freedom) in academics and society.
The important feature of the book and the editors is that they try to practice what
they write, thereby leading by example. They talk about Bharatiya concept of
Vasudhaiv Kutumbakkam (world is a family) and put it into action in the book
itself. It is wonderful to see the diversity among the authors and topics that this book
covers. The way all these beads are put beautifully into a string makes this book a
unique contribution. This kind of leadership is required in organizations as well as
all other walks of life.
The people of the world, especially of Bharat (India) and The Netherlands, are
fortunate to have academicians and researchers, who are contributing to the well-
being of the world in these times of high volatility, uncertainty, complexity and
ambiguity (VUCA). May Bhagwan Shri Krishna (God) bless the authors to become
instruments in this pursuit of establishing Dharma (righteousness) on this planet.
This book is strongly recommended to people interested in performing their
Swadharma through the field of management, governance, businesses, entre-
preneurship and academics.
ix
Preface
With divine grace, all of us get to visit many places across the world, meet variety
of people and experience diverse cultures, sometimes through their worldviews.
This presents each one of us an opportunity to appreciate and empathize with some
of the issues that are being faced at various levels—individual, family, societal,
national and global. These problems had been trying to seek the mindshare of the
general public in the last many years by various scientists. They have been ringing
the alarm bells for a few decades now, but they were dismissed due to people’s
propensity towards listening to only convenient truths and a resistance towards
change, especially the change which is very fundamental in nature. The change
which may force them to change their lifestyle, how they organize their work and
contribute to business models. People tried to protect their way of life and wanted
everyone to conform to their views and just ignore the facts and fast approaching
catastrophic events. In general, this can be attributed to our lack of physical and
mental flexibility and agility too. It’s just now people have started realizing that
these threats to our planet are indeed real. These problems cannot be solved by any
particular or specific group. These problems are not political, which few world
leaders can sit across a table and find a solution. But a solution has to be found
holistically and to be worked upon by everyone irrespective of their origin or
affiliation. To conceptualize the context better, academicians have suggested
VUCA as a framework, which stands for volatility, uncertainty, complexity and
ambiguity. This is a good beginning, as consensus on understanding of issues is
being built among researchers. Ancient system of Ayurveda views any disease as a
tree and stresses on the fact that if you want to cure an ailment, you first have to
understand the root cause and find a medicine for the root to cure the disease.
Fundamentally, we believe that an integrative worldview is a prerequisite to
sustainably address the issues in VUCA context. Further, this worldview would
help us see these issues as opportunities of raising our consciousness as an individ-
ual and civilization.
The book is written in response to the call towards a better world by focusing on
an integrative worldview, manifested in a new way of organizing “Integrative Self-
Management”. This publication is intended to inspire the researchers and
academicians to creatively integrate their perspectives on issues and solutions at
fundamental levels. As editors, we have attempted to make sure that the framework,
in which these contributions are collated, does not impact the original perspective
xi
xii Preface
of the contributor. Ample care has been taken to make sure that the contributions
are not force fit into a rigid structure by clipping some of the valuable research in
the process.
The book has 21 chapters with the following authors across the globe: Nicoletta
Acatrinei (Switzerland), Anindo Bhattacharjee (India), Luk Bouckaert (Belgium),
Alain Guiette (Belgium), Elisabeth Hense (Netherlands), Maria Humphries-Kil
(New Zealand), Veenus Jain (India), Nazarina Jamil (New Zealand), Ankur Joshi
(India), Wendelin Küpers (Germany), Gy€ongyi Major (Hungary), Alka Maurya
(India), Michal Michalski (Poland), Girish Momaya (Netherlands), Hendrik
Opdebeeck (Belgium), Bronwen Rees (UK), Shankar Sankaran (Australia), Gita
Sankaran (Australia), Gurinder Singh (India), Sandeep Singh (India), Pawan Kumar
Singh (India), Koen Vandenbempt (Belgium), Arnold Smit (South Africa) and
Doirean Wilson (UK).
We would like to thank all these authors for their contributions to the theme
“How to manage the VUCA world”. In particular, we like to thank the European
SPES Institute, where these thoughts took shape during the 2015 annual SPES
conference in Amsterdam. We are grateful to the organizations who have been
supportive of our research in the past and to have accorded us an opportunity to
discuss the VUCA issues and share spiritual wisdom from an integrative paradigm:
European SPES Institute, Buurtzorg Nederland, Management Development Insti-
tute (MDI), Nyenrode Business Universiteit, Banasthali Vidhyapith, IFIM Business
School, Amity University and Department of Management Studies at IIT Delhi.
More so, we are indebted to them also because they regarded this topic important
for the society and world alike. We would like to thank entrepreneurs, students and
scholars from various countries who have attended those lectures and discussions
on this subject in the past and contributed to the refinement of various thoughts by
asking questions. We would like to thank Professor Harsh Purohit, dean at
Banasthali Vidhyapith from India, for writing his feedback on this book, and Paul
Gelderloos from the Netherlands for writing the foreword and sharing his
experiences as entrepreneur in dealing with the VUCA world, during the SPES
Annual Conference.
xiii
xiv Contents
Part IV Integrativeness
Spirituality in Management Education for Building Integrated Self:
Insights from Sanskrit Scriptures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Pawan Kumar Singh
The Embodied Inter-be(com)ing of Spirituality: The In-Between
as Spiritual Sphere in Practically Wise Organizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Wendelin Küpers
Simplicity in Dutch Initiatives on Food, Care and Money . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
Elisabeth Hense
Integrating Simplification Theory for Navigating the VUCA:
The Case of Buurtzorg Nederland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
Sharda S. Nandram
Three Pillars of Enlightened Individual Life and Their Realization
Through the Practice of Transcendental Meditation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
Girish Momaya
Listening to Your Intuition: An Integrative Approach to Navigating
VUCA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
Sharda S. Nandram and Puneet K. Bindlish
Contents xv
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331
Editors and Contributors
xvii
xviii Editors and Contributors
Contributors
Nicoleta Acatrinei Princeton University Faith & Work Initiative, Princeton, NJ,
USA
Center for the Study of Religion, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
Editors and Contributors xix
xxi
Part I
Swadharma: Self-Righteousness: Towards
Intrinsic Guidance by Our Inner Life
Introduction to VUCA
1 Understanding VUCA
and abilities that can be used as a blueprint for creating leadership development
plans. Whether VUCA is just part of the game of business or a specific characteris-
tic of the current era has been questioned and is debatable. Johansen and Euchner
(2013) mention that maybe there were VUCA worlds periods before but the scale,
intensity and the speed is unprecedented illustrating that global climate debates may
had started in the 80’ties but compared to the current debates we could notice the
intensity and scale it is being discussed and the urge to come up with solutions is
higher now. Sullivan (2012) shows that half of the most turbulent financial quarters
during the past 30 years have occurred since 2002. The financial turbulence has
increased in intensity and persists longer than in the past. Lawrence (2013)
mentions digitization, connectivity, trade liberalization, global competition and
business model innovation as other drivers of turbulence.
In this book it is being suggested that facing VUCA requires to decrease the
perception of uncertainty by nourishing the inner landscape by self-empowerment
through integrative Self-Management. It also suggests reducing complexity and
ambiguity by simplification in structures and by embracing volatility as a norm
rather than an exception. Integrative Self-Management has been explained through
three pillars: Self-Righteousness, Self-Reliance, and Self-Freedom:
not have Self-Righteousness. These things take away precious resources and time,
that otherwise would have spent in strategic growth and nourishment of the
organization. Most importantly, the focus gradually shifts from pursuing gover-
nance to managing the government (or the bureaucratic structure). The need for
governing reduces with increasing degree of self-management. It has an impact on
the cost of government and governance in any institution. Our research (Nandram
2015) shows that the overall cost to sustain a Self-Managed organization will also
be lower if these three pillars of Self-Management gets executed, regardless of the
type of organization. Sustainability of outcomes is built into the process of this
framework, as it is reflected in the inculcation of natural tendency for self-
management among stakeholders, who are involved in the process of organizing.
Some businesses may choose to live in denial, but largely organizations have
acknowledged the VUCA characteristics of the dynamic environment they are
in. This environment has presented various challenges for businesses. But, there are
very few organizations and thinkers, who see these challenges as exciting
opportunities. The common quality of this selective group is that they are enterprising
and innovative. They leverage on the value of diversity, interconnectedness, universal
human values, a sense of belongingness, transparency and distributed leadership.
Globalization has put significant pressure on leadership across the company levels,
requiring rapid decision making, necessary protection of the culture and worldview of
the organization, abilities to integrate diversities of various kinds, foster collaborative
innovation with the speed appropriate for the given context. These leaders are
typically well rooted in their local or organization culture and inculcating a global
outlook in an integrative manner without wasting resources on brooding on the
dichotomies of local and global. They integrate a double bottom line of business,
social and financial, expressed as humane and efficient. They bring about any change
through a coordinated set of actions inspired by a collective consciousness. Their focus
is on developing and nourishing their worldview in an integrative and holistic manner
in order to make the best use of the VUCA opportunities in this dynamic environment.
A proactive, innovative and creative role is required to cope with VUCA:
In this book we propose that the best way forward is Integrative Self-Manage-
ment. It simplifies and clarifies the organizing structure, it decreases the complexity
of human dynamics of management control, and it creates space for flexibility and
thereby, provides an efficient, swift, adaptive organization with the dynamic capa-
bility to respond to the diverse needs of the customers. It fosters the development of
a common language to issues in the organization which are grounded and close to
the daily experiential practices of customers. Furthermore, among employees it
enhances meaning, purpose at work, and belongingness as main antecedents for
both individual and organizational growth and development.
In this book we address the three pillars of Integrative Self-Management and how
they are expressed in organization behavior. This provides inspiration for organi-
zation design and development as well as how to structure the tasks in the organi-
zation. Each chapter ends with some reflective questions for the reader. These
questions have been complied by the authors in order to encourage the reader to
further contemplate on the thoughts shared in the chapter and engage them with
thought experiments for their specific VUCA contexts.
The book has been structured in four parts. In Part 1 we present chapters that
covers the concept of Swadharma—Self-Righteousness. In Part 2 chapters are
covered to explain Swavalamban—Self-Reliance. In Part 3 chapters cover the
concept of Swaraaj—Self-Freedom. This does not mean that all three can only
appear in exclusive ways. They can occur integrally but here the dominant concept
that is being addressed in the particular chapter has been the leading criteria in
positioning each chapter in the several parts of the book. The fourth part of the book
addresses manifestations of an integrative approach covering these three pillars.
The book concludes with reflective remarks on the phenomenon of VUCA and our
approach to cope with VUCA in the context of management and entrepreneurship
through an integrative paradigm.
Introduction to VUCA 7
lessons can be drawn from the teachings of Jasper, Sloterdijk and Heidegger for
coping with VUCA. Volatility is expressed in the need for technological change
and speed. Uncertainty as a lack of predictability is a central concern of technology.
Complexity surrounding an institution is a constant technological challenge. Ambi-
guity characterizes the typical context of technology. The chapter furthermore
addresses: what is wrong with our VUCA based technological development when
employees feel alienated in their workplaces, experiencing a lack of meaning or
spirit? In which way can we rediscover virtues like simplicity, frugality, empathy
and interconnectedness?
This is the era of Big Data where the process of sense-making has become more
towards understanding the microcosm of the changes around us. If we view it from
a karmic perspective, we are so much intertwined in the action-reaction cycle that
the theory of chaos including the metaphor of tornados changing tracks for flapping
of butterfly wings seems plausible. Every single change in the microcosm has the
potential to create a new pattern of the macrocosm evolution. But somehow we
have misplaced our position of being the “change” and rather are focusing continu-
ously on the external factors. We are constantly ignoring the “seer” within us which
may actually help us in making sense of this VUCA world and understanding the
Tao of this VUCA world.
In Chapter “Karmic Leadership for a Mindful Existence” the authors take a
two-tier approach towards understanding and making a sense of this VUCA
World—First tier is to understand our relation to the Universe being an individual,
a “pure existent” in this cosmos. At this level, we are increasingly feeling baffled
and confused because we are mindlessly pursuing our own ends without being
conscious of how our individual actions or “karma” are creating ripples in the
macrocosm and contributing towards a volatile and uncertain world full of ambig-
uous realities. The journey towards the consciousness and understanding the way
behind the way of the evolution (Tao of the VUCA world) is through the 4Ps of
Karmic leadership which constitutes the second tier of understanding the VUCA
world.
In Chapter “Spirituality in Indian Organizations” sustainable organisational
development is discussed in association with a complex and integrating culture—
with an integrated soul presence. The chapter examines organisational development
as a positive-amount of energy flow. By applying the concept of creating organic
systems, it examines the opportunities for developing organisational intelligence,
which is capable of integrating the rational, emotional and spiritual aspects alike:
how consciousness, if tuned to totality, can create and operate a value creating
networks of interactions. This study discusses the cornerstones of existing in the
VUCA world, as depending on the deepening of self-knowledge and on
experiencing the cosmic essence. This study wishes to replace the identity
encapsulated in self-interest with a broader self-image, which reflects the cosmic
Introduction to VUCA 11
nature of existence; such fundamental principles are applied along which the
system of society’s values and can be redefined—and, hence, the concept of
development can be made sustainable. The message is about how consciousness
realizes the physical level of existence itself through the maintenance of self-
operation and self-identity at different levels. The three pillars of realization are
self-interpretation, the interpretation of existence outside the self and the system of
relations between these two.
Chapter “Organisation Development in the Point of Intersection of
Competencies and Performance Potentials” examines the question: how to imple-
ment best practices in business and side by side remain competitive in this fast
moving VUCA world? It follows the call to introduce spirituality in business and it
describes spirituality from different Indian philosophies and then examines how to
create an atmosphere where employees trust employers, employers trust employees,
organizations trust customers and customers trust organizations; how to build a
strong organization on the foundation of “mutual trust”. More modern day
organizations are now moving towards spirituality-based value system to achieve
regular business goals.
Chapter “The Use of Mindfulness in a Traumatic VUCA World” shows how the
conditions of VUCA can be compared with those of trauma, which if not acknowl-
edged, can have a damaging physiological, emotional and spiritual impact. It
describes how Mindfulness practices override these consequences through the
process of slowing down the physiological responses and providing space for
more creative responses. Based on secondary data the chapter provides an analysis
of an evaluative project on Mindfulness in the mental health sector to present
qualitative accounts of how Mindfulness supports employee Self-Management
within these particular conditions of a VUCA environment—illuminating why
and how these techniques are successful. The chapter concludes by discussing the
ethical issues of introducing Mindfulness into organizations as part of the manage-
ment agenda.