Uncertainty: Deal or No Deal with Nick Obolensky

Wealth Without Borders Podcast

How do you know that you’ve got it all planned out in your workplace? How sure are you that your premeditated action is going to work in any kind of environment? Do you really want to gamble your time and efforts with that kind of action plan?

No matter what kind of environment we are in, it is a must for us to understand where we are in and to be flexible. We have to know how to adjust to possible immediate circumstances that may arise anytime, especially in our own workplace. Are you ready for the VUCA world?

Nick Obolensky has many years’ experience of leadership in the VUCA context as a practitioner (youngest Major in the British Army, and FTSE 100 director in charge of a truly massive turnaround). In addition, Nick is an academic, author, and consultant.

In this episode, Nick shares how understanding the VUCA environment can help you get better results faster, with less effort, less cost, and less stress in highly uncertain and dynamic environments Hear his insights on the importance of flexibility and adaptivity in the VUCA environment.

What you will learn from this episode:

• Discover how to get better results with less effort, less time, less stress and less cost by understanding the VUCA environment
• Recognize the mistakes you make in a VUCA environment and how to fix them
• Learn how to respond and adapt to the VUCA environment

“As soon as things work, you push. When they fail, you pivot.”

- Nick Obolensky

Topics Covered:

01:41 - Nick defines his ideal client

02:09 - Problems that Nick helps solve for his clients: Understanding the VUCA environment to get better results faster, less effort, less cost, and less stress

02:45 - Understanding the VUCA environment as to not get overwhelmed in the complexity, why your premeditated action won’t work in a complex, dynamic environment

03:32 - You need to make decisions fast when working in a complex environment, how making fast decisions is a necessity in a complex environment

04:18 - Nick’s valuable free action: “I think the first thing is, is to stop and think, you know, get off the hamster wheel. Stop and think. Step back and look at what you're dealing with. Is what you're dealing with simple? Are things complicated? And by the time you know, when you've done the analysis, things have changed. Stop and think, what are you dealing with? Once you've identified what you're dealing with, then you apply the strategy that gets results”

05:08 - Nick’s Valuable Free Resource: https://www.linkedin.com/company/complex-adaptive-leadership-ltd?trk=public_profile_topcard_current_company

05:51 - Book Alert: Chaos: Making a New Science by James Gleick

07:01 - Questions asked to Nick: What's the value? What's the payback? Where's the beef? You know, it's a nice idea, nice concepts. But you know, in reality, and this is about wealth management, where's the wealth creation? Where's the value creation? And can you prove that?

Key Takeaways:

“I think the first thing is, is to stop and think, you know, get off the hamster wheel. Stop and think. Step back and look at what you're dealing with.” -Nick Obolensky

“Not just about money, it's also about less stress, better work-life balance, better family life, better results for less effort. So that is the result. That is the return on these ideas when they're implemented in a VUCA environment- volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous.” -Nick Obolensky

People / Resources Mentioned:

• Chaos: Making a New Science by James Gleick

Ways to Connect with Nick Obolensky:

• Website: https://www.complexadaptiveleadership.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickobolensky/

Ways to Connect with Howard Whiteson:

• Website: http://www.wealthwithoutborders.net
• Podcast: https://wealthwithoutborders.net/podcast/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/howardwhiteson