Is it possible to plan even in uncertain scenarios?

We are living in an increasingly unpredictable world, uncertain events, high business complexity, technology, and increasingly savvy consumers who know our products in depth – sometimes even more than we do ourselves.

The concept of BANI (Brittle, Anxious, Nonlinear and Incomprehensible ) was coined by American anthropologist Jamais Cascio and became known in 2020 in the face of the worldwide collapse caused by the new coronavirus pandemic. This term used to describe the scenario being experienced has “left behind” VUCA, an acronym for volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity.

But, what is the first thing that comes to your mind when uncertainty is mentioned? How to plan, to be strategic, without knowing very well tomorrow. We reflected a lot on this during a panel discussion at the Agile Leaders Meeting, held by the Agile League, and it is some of this learning that I want to share with you.

Uncertain scenarios are synonymous with difficult times for decisions, especially in the corporate world. Any slip-up can bring fatal damage to business.

However, there is no way to let the wind carry the company away; the manager cannot abandon his responsibilities or postpone decisions for fear of uncertainties.

This inevitably shakes the structures and hinders our actions when it comes to designing and planning the strategy.

Flexibility and resilience are the watchwords at this time. In addition, you need to give the team a sense of purpose to engage in transforming the business. With the support of technology, which has exactly the role of bringing added value.

Besides observing various realities, we need to be agile, have flexibility and creativity, make faster decisions, and more than ever be a problem-solving actor. Jeff Gothelf, who was also one of the keynotes at our event, brought exactly some of this out in his talk. He stressed how important OKRs are and the establishment of a very clear strategy with defined goals and inspiring objectives.

Yes, we are able to shape people’s behavior, both customers, our interlocutors, and the internal team. With a well-communicated strategy, we can guide people so that they can make decisions, make better choices, and most importantly, understand the boundaries of their autonomy so that they can make things happen.

The more uncertain the scenario, the more we are forced to create alternatives. Traditional methodologies should not be abandoned, but we have to look for new models, always thinking about innovation, about being disruptive, when you want to achieve digital transformation.

The world is uncertain and we need to have everyone’s engagement so that answers and actions happen in the right team, whenever needed.

Leaders need to have an active voice. And I repeat, you cannot change course if there is no clear course underway. You have to have the whole strategic basis. The means can even change along the way, as long as you know where you want to go. It all starts with strategic planning, with a focus on people and leadership training. One quality is that of adaptation, and when we are in a scenario and an unforeseen event occurs, we need to adapt.