One of the things you have to love about the Army is the never-ending supply of acronyms. Many of them are familiar- AWOL- Absent Without Leave, SNAFU- let’s stick with the PG version- Situation Normal, All Fouled Up.
Then there are the lesser known but highly useful acronyms- OBE- overcome by events. Ever feel exactly like that? Just TOO much going on! Not enough time? You are OBE- overcome by events.
Yet, I knew I had really arrived when I understood what the TPFDDL was! Of course, that’s the time phased forward deployment departure list. Right?
But here’s the one that came to my mind this week when I reflected on this week’s Torah portion, Parshat Bo. I first heard it when I was a student at the US Army War College, and it has subsequently entered the business world- VUCA. It’s on the front of your Shabbat bulletin- Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous.
The Torah portion begins with the 8th plague- locusts. The situation is clearly volatile. Enormous change is imminent. Egyptian society has been catastrophically destabilized and Pharoah’s hostility is erupting.
Uncertain- the outcome is unclear. The situation is unprecedented and there is no roadmap leading forward. Where will the Israelites go? How will they sustain themselves? Will they even survive the exodus experience?
Complex- so many factors competing in the environment. Pharoah, Moses, the Egyptian people, God! The physical environment itself has been totally disrupted, Total darkness precedes the death of the first born and the flight from slavery to freedom.
Ambiguous- The outcome is unknown, amplified by Pharoah’s change of heart and pursuit of the Israelites into the desert wilderness. What will happen? There is no way to know.
VUCA captures the essence of the exodus experience. Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous. VUCA as a metaphor applies in so many arenas. Ron and I recently had the opportunity to have dinner with a senior officer of the US Foreign Service who was intimately involved with a contemporary exodus- the exodus of thousands of Afghans who had worked alongside U.S. forces—including interpreters, cultural advisors, and contractors who, with the fall of the Afghan government in 2021, suddenly faced imminent danger.
As she shared the experience of her holy work, I was struck by the parallels with the Biblical description. The explosive volatility of the situation was evident to all of us who watched it on the news, as US allies literally chased after the planes that would airlift them from the chaotic environment. For those refugees, there was much uncertainty? Should they even be blessed to make it onto a flight, would they be cleared by the competing US agencies working on their behalf? With so many stakeholders involved in the process, the geopolitical implications and the challenges to the refugees themselves, the complexity was intense. Ambiguous? For sure! Needing to flee for the sake of oneself and one’s family, yet leaving home forever, abandoning the dreams for one’s country, and heading into the unknown. I can only imagine the ambiguous feelings of that moment.
VUCA is such a helpful and adaptive concept. As a country, with an enormous change in leadership upon us, we are living in a moment of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. As a Temple Chai community, we may be experiencing aspects of VUCA. And in our own personal lives, VUCA can emerge from changes in our work or our financial status, from our health and well-being, from our relationships with friends and family.
How can we navigate in the realm of VUCA? Author Bob Johansen suggests that we consider what he calls VUCA-Prime. That we lean on a sense of vision, understanding, clarity, and agility.
When we have a sense of vision, we know who we are and feel confident in our purpose. The Israelites were inspired by their vision of freedom. We can achieve understanding by expanding our horizon and developing our willingness to be curious regarding a broad range of perspectives. After centuries of slavery, the Israelites had to imagine an entirely new way of living- physically, culturally, and spiritually.
In order to have clarity, we need to simplify what we are experiencing and prioritize what is the most important. On that night of escaping from Egypt, what was necessary became crystal clear- gather your things, grab some bread, even if it wasn’t yet fully baked, and get out of town.
Agility means cultivating the ability to adapt to changing circumstances, and to be resilient in the face of change. The Israelites were able to accomplish this goal by coming together as a community and striving for faith in their leadership.
The exodus from Egypt in Biblical times, like the exodus of Afghan refugees in our own day, was an example of a VUCA experience- volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous. Our ancestors leaned on their vision, understanding, clarity, and agility.
May we as citizens of a country undergoing a moment of great transition, as a Temple family in a time of change, and whatever VUCA moments we are facing in our own lives, may we be blessed with the resources that we need to remain focused on our vision and our understanding, to achieve the clarity that we need, and to be adaptive wherever our journey leads.
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