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.
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings
- Climate change.
- Disaster.
- Helping communities recover from disasters and protecting them before they occur.
- Hurricane design considerations..
- Managing and Responding to Disaster.
- Managing projects in post-conflict and disaster zones APM
- Research and development in disaster response.
- Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.
- Tsunami.
Featured articles
Check out some of the best features and news from Designing Buildings as well as key stories from around the web.
New and updated CLC building safety guidance.
New UK National Buildings Database.
Building Safety Wiki Interviews
Chief executive of the British Woodworking Federation.
Planning condition discharge in England and Wales
A brief explanation from a building compliance expert, with further links.
Overheating guidance and tools for building designers
Guidance for dealing with element of building fabric control that have increasing importance.
Shading for housing, a design guide
From the Good Homes Alliance and British Blind and Shutter Association.
UK Standard Skills Classification (SSC)
A shared framework for describing skills needs.
Social media ban consultation comes to close
CIOB urges UK Government to consider social media’s role in careers guidance in ban debate.
The latest of eight Skills England apprenticeship units
The addition of battery manufacturing welcomed by ECA with a warning about the risks of fast-tracked apprenticeship units.
Building Control Independent Panel final report
A precis of a key report led by Dame Hackitt with full recommendations and link to the government response.
Building Safety recap April, 2026
A short and longer run-through of the month, with links to further information and sources.
Comments
[edit] To make a comment about this article, or to suggest changes, click 'Add a comment' above. Separate your comments from any existing comments by inserting a horizontal line.