Sari Tomperi gave a presentation on leading in a VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous) world. She discussed trends that are shaping the future like an aging population, urbanization, and climate change. To succeed as a leader in this environment, one must have a vision and purpose, see the organization as a living organism, empower teams to make decisions, and create conditions for experimentation. Leaders should ask different types of questions, take multiple perspectives, and develop a systemic vision for possibilities.

1. 20.2.2019
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Leading in VUCA world
JYU MBA
Sari Tomperi, 12.02.2019

2. Works done:
• Teacher in business college
• Business Unit Director in publishing business (Edita,
Talentum Media)
• Management Consultant (Accenture, Ellun Kanat)
• Transformation Driver (Sanoma Media Finland, Posti)
Main thread: Strategy implementations, transformations
and change journeys, program management, developing
operating models and leaderships, culture transformations
Work/Life: Mother of 11 yrs old Andrei; part-time sport
addiction to hot yoga, golf, strength training and scuba diving.
Lived several times abroad, last time in 2014 in Tanzania.
Learning to surf on a bucket list.
SARI TOMPERIVP HR, CULTURE & CAPABILITIES @ POSTI

3. 20.2.2019
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THE FUTURE
– AND THE PRESENT –
AIN’T WHAT IT USED TO BE…

4. “Hey, it’s crazy out there!”
“Probably 40% of the
world’s leading
companies will not
exist in a meaningful
way ten years from
now.”
John Chambers
Former CEO, Cisco

5. We live in a world that’s constantly changing,
where changes big and small are becoming
more unpredictable – and they’re getting
more and more dramatic and happening
faster and faster.1
Volatility
1
Source:https://www.vuca-world.org/

6. It’s becoming more difficult
to anticipate events or predict
how they’ll unfold; historical
forecasts and past
experiences are losing their
relevance. It becomes
increasingly uncertain where
the route is heading. 1
Uncertainty
1
Source:https://www.vuca-world.org/

7. Complexity
Problems and their repercussions are more multi-
layered, harder to understand. What are the
reasons? What are the effects? Choosing the single
correct path is almost impossible. 1
1
Source:https://www.vuca-world.org/

8. Ambiguity
Not everything is black and white –
grey is also an option. The demands
on modern organisations and
management are more contradictory
and paradoxical than ever.1
1
Source:https://www.vuca-world.org/

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VUCA doesn’t mean that
everything is unpredictable.
There are meta-phenomena with trend lines
that are clear if not precisely delineated.

10. THE WORLD GETS OLDER – ESPECIALLY
THE NORTH AND THE WEST
People age 65 and older now make up 8 percentof the population,in 2030 it will be will be 13%.

11. THE WORLD GETS ASIAN
In 2030, Chinese and Indians make up 35% of the world's population. In the meantime, a
million young Indians enter the labour market every month over the next 20 years.

12. THE WORLD GETS URBAN
The majority of the globe’s population now lives in cities and this will continue to increase
in the decades ahead.

13. THE WORLD GETS WARMER AND DRIER
Extreme weather phenomena, sea level rise, environmentalrefugees, species extinction,
infectious diseases...

14. NEW TECHNOLOGIES WILL CHANGE
THE WORLD
Virtual reality, drone cars, space tourism, renewable energy, artificial intelligence,
exoskeletons,robots, 3D printing…

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Each of these phenomena can be
used as a lens on your business
and industry to make it easier to
discern what may be coming.

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AS A LEADER IN VUCA WORLD.
How to survive and how to
succeed?

17. IT’S ALL ABOUT THE MINDSET
We must focus on
what is possible
(because anything
can happen) rather
than on what is likely
to occur (which is
determined by what
happened before).

18. #1 BE PURPOSE & VISION DRIVEN
Create a common
purpose that
ensures everyone
is facing in the
same direction,
and working
towards a common
goal.

19. View your
organisation as a
living eco-system:
hyper networked,
relationship rich
and with
transparent
communication
and a team of
teams approach.
#2 SEE YOUR ORGANIZATION
AS A LIVING ORGANISM

20. THE COMPOSITION OF THE WORKFORCE IS
CHANGING DRAMATICALLY
As alternative work arrangements, e.g. gig-economy, become more common, how can we as
organizations appeal to, engage with, and drive value through workers of all different types?

21. Replace traditional organisational
silos with diverse and highly
connected teams with distributed
authority and a collaborative
decision-making process.
#3 DEVOLVE DECISION-MAKING
AUTHORITY TO EMPOWERED TEAMS

22. Common norms
needed for
innovation, such as
autonomy, initiative,
risk-taking, and
openness, should be
broadly held
throughout the
organization. 1
#4 CREATE CONDITIONS FOR
PEOPLE TO EXPERIMENT 1Source:https://www2.deloitte.c
om/insights/us/en/topics/leader
ship/ambidextrous-leadership-
ceo-traits-in-digital-era.html

23. HOW TO GET STARTED – TOMORROW!
Be humble.
Askdifferent types of questions.
on multiple perspectives.Take
at the whole picture; take a step back to see what’s
possible.
Look
a systemic vision.Develop

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THE FUTURE
IS HERE.

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KIITOS!
Sari Tomperi
VP, Culture & Capabilities, Posti
+358 40 7726 254
sari.tomperi@posti.com
linkedin.com/in/saritomperi/
@SariTomperi