Assignment - Summary On VUCA Based Reading by McKinsey & Co

Project VUCA
Date: 18 / 09 / 2023
Day: Monday
VUCA based summary on "Six problem solving mindsets for very uncertain times" by McKinsey & Co.
Submitted to: Sir Anand Saxena
Submitted by: Team ACEGA TANK
V : Volatility
U : Uncertainty
C : Complexity
A : Ambiguity
Summary
The given article on the topic "Business - Problem solving" by the reputed McKinsey & Co. gives us some
insights on Traits & Skills possessed by the great problem solvers out there. These go as follows:
Be ever-curious.
Tolerate ambiguity - and stay humble!
Take a dragonfly-eye view on the world.
Pursue Occurrent Behaviour.
Tap into collective intelligence and wisdom of the crowd.
Show & Tell to drive action.
→ Children while growing up tend to be very curious and ask fundamental "whys" about everyday things,
which works as a problem-solving model in childhood. But as we grow up to become adults we start
assuming some conditions at the initial hypotheses that we don't question ourselves and these develop into
biases.
Even though this is natural human behaviour, these anchoring biases make a lot of people stop their chain
of thought too early and be limited in their range of potential answers. The seemingly simple solution to
this is to ask questions about your initial hypotheses and learn to embrace curiousity.
→ The Truth about problem solving is that it involves trial & error, there are a plethora of hypotheses made
& rejected, until a satisfactory solution is found. The real world is not so predictable and we have to keep a
view for everything, i.e. the quality of Epistemic Humility (acknowledging that our knowledge is
incomplete)
Thus, accustoming to imperfectionism can lead to better problem solving, especially in cases of
uncertainity.
→ Yet another idea related to the above the two is the "Dragonfly's eye view". These Insects have large eyes
with thousands of photoreceptors sensitive to different wavelengths of lights and they draw a great
analogy to how we should be formulating while problem solving.
Widening the aperture on a problem helps identify even more threats & opportunities beyond the
periphery of our own vision.
→ One of the problem solving mindsets for uncertain time includes "Purone Occurrent Behaviour" which
actually states that we as individuals should adopt occurrent behaviour. Occurrent behaviour is what
happens in a place and time, not what was potential or predicted behaviour. We have to think this as an
approach as creating data rather than just looking for what has been collected already. It is critical for
market creation. Also this very approach is very useful for companies with ambitions to win in the great
unknown in emerging segment. Problem-solving organisation can "bootstrap" themselves into highly
uncertain new spaces and confidence as this approach pushes they take steps forward. Also this approach
pushes us to undertake experiments which would allow us to generate our idea and give insight that others
don't have.
→ Another problem solving mindset includes "Tapping into collective intelligence and wisdom of the crowd"
which actually wants us not to make the mistake of thinking that my team is the smartest in the room. It
brings to our knowledge that crowdsourcing isn't just a problem but on the contrary it can be useful when
conventional thinking solutions are too expensive or incomplete for the challenge at hand. So we can start
with a brainstorming session that would engage people from outside our team, to draw in diverse
experiences and expertise found outside the team.
→ One of the most helpful problem solving mindset involves to "show and tell to drive action". Show and
tell explains how to connect your audience with the problem and then use combinations of logic and
persuasion to get action. It aims to bring decision makers into a problem solving domain that we have
created. The most elegant problem solving is what makes the solution obvious. To get better at show and
tell we should start getting clear about the action which should flow from problem solving and findings:
the governing idea for change.
LEARNING ASPECTS
1) DRAGONFLY EYE PERCEPTION
• Open-Mindedness: he concept of “dragonfly-eye preception” encourages open-mindedness and the

willingness. It emphasises the importance of not being confined to a single prespective.
•Holistic Thinking: The text emphasises the importance of holistic thinking when approaching complex
problems. It teaches us to consider broader ecosystem and take into account various interconnected
factors.
2) TAP INTO COLLECTIVE INTELLIGENCE AND THE WISDOM OF THE CROWD
• Innovation and Flexibility : The idea of “ failing fast” and trying new approaches aligns with the values of
innovation and flexibility, encouraging a willingness to explore unconventional solutions.
•Ethical Considerations: It is mentioned that if direct experimentation is difficult or unethical, one should
look for “natural experiments” in similar situations.
3) SHOW AND TELL TO DRIVE PERFECTION
• Communication and Engagement: “Show and tell” is presented as a method to connect with an audience
and engage decision-makers in understanding and addressing a problem.
• Acceptance of Imperfection: Seasonal problem solvers are depicted as those who embrace imperfection
and focus on practical solutions rather than showcasing knowledge.
4) EVER - CURIOSITY
• Maintain Curiosity : Maintain a childlike curiosity by asking fundamental questions like "why?"
persistently. This can help you understand and uncover hidden aspects of a problem.
• Use Question mark : Add question marks to initial hypotheses to encourage multiple solution paths
[Ambiguity]. This can lead to more comprehensive problem-solving.
5) OCCURRENT BEHAVIOUR IN PROBLEM SOLVING
• Creating Data : Instead of looking for past data, creating data through experimentation is more useful in
case of working in the unknown emerging sector.
• Probability based problem solving : Rather than seeking absolute certainty, consider probability when
making decisions. Calculated risks based on odds can lead to successfull outcomes.
" It is not the strongest species that survive, nor the most
intelligent, but the ones who are most responsive to change "
~ Charles Darwin

Assignment - Summary On VUCA Based Reading by McKinsey & Co

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Assignment - Summary On VUCA Based Reading by McKinsey & Co

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Assignment - Summary On VUCA Based Reading by McKinsey & Co

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Project VUCA

Submitted to: Sir Anand Saxena

Submitted by: Team ACEGA TANK

• Open-Mindedness: he concept of “dragonfly-eye preception” encourages open-mindedness and the

3) SHOW AND TELL TO DRIVE PERFECTION

5) OCCURRENT BEHAVIOUR IN PROBLEM SOLVING

You might also like