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The stormy sea

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We are living in the age of VUCA — volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous. The term was first popularised by the U.S. Army War College in the late ’80s, but it feels like it’s having its cultural moment.

• Volatile: Change is constant and fast. One minute you’re selling physical products, the next the market wants digital services, then it swings back again.
• Uncertain: Trends appear without warning, customer expectations shift overnight, and geopolitical events flip supply chains upside down.
• Complex: Many and sometimes remote things are intertwined. A decision about marketing in one country can trigger operational headaches three continents away.
• Ambiguous: Cause and effect are blurred. Was it your new strategy that improved sales, or just dumb luck?

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And the waves aren’t getting any smaller. If you’re waiting for calm seas, I have bad news: the weather forecast for the next decade is “stormy, with a chance of flying furniture parts.”

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So, how do you keep your business afloat, your crew intact, and your half-assembled wardrobe from toppling overboard?

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Efficiency obsession sinks in a storm

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For decades, companies have been obsessed with efficiency. Lean processes, just-in-time inventory, minimal redundancy — all excellent in calm conditions. Efficiency trims the sails, sharpens the prow, and gets you to your destination faster.

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But in a storm? Efficiency can make you brittle.

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Over-optimised systems are like a ship with no spare rope, no backup sails, and a captain who insists that the lifeboats take up too much deck space. When a rogue wave hits, there’s no slack, no buffer, and no room for error.

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In VUCA conditions, efficiency isn’t enough. You need adaptivity — the capacity to change course without capsizing, and to keep working even when the deck is tilting.

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The new superpower: adaptivity

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Adaptivity is the ship’s ability to keep moving in unpredictable waters. It’s not about having the fastest hull; it’s about being able to reef the sails quickly, redistribute weight, and avoid sailing directly into a squall.

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But adaptivity doesn’t just happen because you wish for it. It’s powered by resilience — the shock absorber of your organisational and personal systems. Without resilience, every wave feels like a shipwreck. With resilience, a storm is just another Tuesday.

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Think of resilience as the seaworthiness of your crew and your vessel combined. It’s not about being unshakable — it’s about being able to wobble without falling apart.

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Four steps to build your sea legs

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In a great conversation on resilience, four core practices emerged. Let’s translate them into life at sea:

1. Take agency where you can
   You can’t control the wind or the waves, but you can adjust the sails and steer the rudder. In business, that means focusing on what you can influence — whether it’s shifting a project timeline, reassigning resources, or making quick tactical decisions while the bigger storm passes.
   
   
2. Lean into necessary discomfort
   Sailors know that taking a wave head-on is safer than letting it hit you broadside. In the same way, leaning into discomfort — difficult conversations, new technologies, market shifts — keeps you in control instead of being blindsided. When anything can happen anytime, you’d rather embrace that some kind of discomfort is going to happen anyway than avoid the unavoidable.
   
   
3. Choose curiosity over certainty
   Certainty is a mirage in VUCA waters. Curiosity keeps you scanning for land, changes in wind, or opportunities you didn’t expect. If you think you’ve already got it all figured out, you’ll miss the unexpected island just off your port side. If you think you can judge everything right, first ask and search for the whys to truly understand what’s going on.
   
   
4. Adapt rather than rebuild
   When the storm hits, you don’t scrap the vessel and start over — you make quick, effective repairs with what you have. Also, if you rebuild the same ship that has already sunk before, don’t get surprised if that exact same ship might sink again. Build the knowledge and experience into your next ship. The same goes for processes and strategies. Learn and adapt for the next versions.
   
   

The psychology of a good sailor

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Resilience isn’t just about equipment and processes — it’s also about mindset. Here are three psychological habits that keep sailors (and leaders) steady when the deck is swaying:

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Positive explaining style focuses on the good in every situations
When you’ve got a glass half full of salt water, you don’t complain about the taste — you turn it into soup. It’s not about denying reality, but reframing it so it becomes useful. Instead of “We lost a client,” try “We freed capacity to pursue better-fit clients.”

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Active-constructive reactions strengthens the commitment for the relationship
When a crew member reports a problem, respond in a way that shows you’re listening and invested. “I hear you, and here’s how we’ll handle it together” builds trust far more than a distracted “Okay, noted.” Emotional connection is when the other party feels they are understood and taken care of.

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When there is trouble, social connections cannot decrease
In rough seas, the instinct can be to hunker down alone in your cabin. But connection is the immune system of resilience. Whether it’s regular team check-ins, informal chats, or making sure no one feels isolated, social ties keep morale buoyant.

Making new sailing habits stick

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Here’s the truth about resilience: it’s not built in a single heroic moment; it’s baked into the small, daily habits that keep the ship in shape.

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Humans naturally take the path of least resistance — which, unfortunately, can lead us straight into old, unhelpful patterns. To create lasting change:

• Lower the activation energy for the good stuff
  Make the right habits easier to do. If you want daily team huddles, schedule them at a fixed time so no one has to think about it. If you want to maintain perspective, keep your “storm checklist” visible so you can act instead of react.
• Raise the activation energy for the bad stuff
  Make unhelpful habits harder. If knee-jerk emails under stress cause trouble, add a 5-minute delay rule before sending. If certain toxic topics drain the crew’s energy, set boundaries around when and how they’re discussed.

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Remember: in a storm, you don’t rise to the occasion — you fall to the level of your seamanship. And seamanship is just the sum of practiced habits.

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Becoming a storm-ready crew

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VUCA isn’t going away. Yet, adaptivity shall wear the captain’s hat. And resilience is the muscle that makes adaptivity possible. It’s what lets you keep steering, keep working, and maybe even laugh a little when a wave knocks your half-built IKEA wardrobe across the deck.

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The storms aren’t the problem. The real danger is building a crew and a ship that can’t handle them. As a result, a rough sea makes a skilled sailor.