Volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity VUCA

Volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (VUCA) is a way of describing or assessing difficult situations in terms of their level of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. It has been used in reference to politics, project management, military and humanitarian actions and various other fields.

The term originated from the US leadership theorists of the late 1980's but became more well known after it was adopted by the US army to describe situations from the 1990's, in particular those arising out of the cold war. It has also been used to describe global crisis such as pandemics, climate change and recessions.

In terms of construction a project management VUCA might be used to describe working environments that are permanently chaotic or unordered and as such different skills are needed to deal with this as opposed to situations that can be changed to create more order.

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