As a business leader, you've noticed there's been volatility and change in your world. To survive in this NEW NORMAL, organizations must do things differently. Our goal with The VUCA Company book & workshop is to offer a PATH FORWARD and get you thinking about what you need to do, and where you should start.

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Life Long Employability
Turbulence Has A New Word-VUCA
Volatility – Rate of Change
Uncertainty – Unclear about present situation and future outcome
Complexity – Multiplicity of Key Decision Factors
Ambiguity – Lack Of Clarity About Meaning Of An Event
Understand Dynamics of VUCA Business Environment Where
Slippage Will Be Frequent And Recovery Slow And Painful
"Those who failed to navigate the rapid changes brought about
in their marketplace did so not because they are not smart or
aware, but because the speed of change is simply overwhelming
them.” Thomas Friedman-The World Is Flat

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Evolution of VUCA
US Military Engagements
in Iraq and Afghanistan
Today’s Business Environment
Is No Different

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As a business leader, you’ve noticed
there’s been volatility and change in your
world.
To survive in this NEW NORMAL,
organizations must do things
differently. Our goal with The VUCA
Company book & workshop is to
offer a PATH FORWARD and get you
thinking about what you need to do,
and where you should start.

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Life Long Employability
A rapidly evolving, dynamic,
chaotic, complex business
environment is the norm rather
than the exception.
That’s Not The Problem
The fundamentals of business
leadership and corporate strategy
haven’t evolved at the same pace –
creating a gap between social
behavior and business practices.
That’s The
Problem
“We are in a new world, using old tools”
Thomas Friedman, The World is Flat

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Life Long Employability
In VUCA World,
To Embrace The Future
Memorise The Past
Especially The Painful
Evolve or get endangered

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Life Long Employability
Everybody Fails
Even Mahatma
Gandhi failed in his
First Satyagraha
He reflected, learnt,
changed strategy and
succeeded
spectacularly
Our greatest glory is not in never falling
But in rising every time we fall – Confucius

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Sound leaders understand the importance of
learning from failures
 “It turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could
have ever happened to me,” Stephen Jobs, Stanford 2005
 “We have only ourselves to blame” Satish Reddy, Dr Reddy’s, Forbes,
2011 (Failure of German Acquisition)
 “I need to blame myself, I am the leader of the side. I am the main culprit
so of course I blame myself.” M.S.Dhoni, Jan 2012 (after Australia
debacle)
 “….When I reached rock bottom, I could make a solid foundation.”
J.K.Rowlings Author of Harry Potter Series.
 …. failure in attaining Samarkand was the greatest gift Allah bestowed
me.. Moghul Emperor Babur in Baburnama
 I have made my share of business mistakes, but every failure
contains the seeds of your next success. Paul Allen (Microsoft
Promoter)

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Failures Are Intensely Pursued Today

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Why Learn From Failure
1. Knowledge & Skill Development
is Not Enough. In VUCA world
skills are growing obsolete as
quickly as their organizations
change
2. Resilience & Adaptability Are
Key Competencies.
1. To institutionalize learning from
failure in your organization
Failure is the opportunity to begin again, more intelligently.
Henry Ford

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Companies Are Dying Faster
Standard & Poor
Every Success Sows The Seeds Of Its Own Destruction
R. Gopalkrishnan, Director Tata Sons

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Is Your Organisation VUCA Ready?
Read The Book
Join The Workshop
“So give me a turbulent world as opposed to a
quiet world and I will take the turbulent one.”
Andrew Grove

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The Book
The VUCA Company
{ Volatility • Uncertainty • Complexity • Ambiguity}
The VUCA Company authored by Suhayl Abidi, a
30 years industry veteran and Dr. Manoj Joshi, Professor of Strategy,
is a study of 12 Indian companies which did not succeed in the VUCA
environment and offers common causes of failure and suggests the
roadmap for avoiding or recovering from failure.
Foreword by Shikha Sharma, CEO, Axis Bank
Published by
Jaico Publishing House
August 2015 (Rs.350)

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Authors of
The VUCA Company
Suhayl Abidi
A practitioner of Organisational Learning & Knowledge Management.
An MBA from FMS Delhi and PG Diploma in Information Management
from Leeds Polytechnic, UK, he has, for 25 years worked for
organisations such as Penguin Publishing, The British Council, Saudi
Ports Authority, Reliance Industries, Essar and Piramal Healthcare in
the Information & organisation learning domain. He has written a
number of articles in leading business papers and magazines.
Dr. Manoj Joshi, PhD
Dr Manoj Joshi, PhD (Strategy), Fellow Institutions of Engineers India,
is a Professor-Strategy, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Amity
Business School with nearly 30 publications in international journals.
He is the Asia Editor for International Journal of Entrepreneurship and
Innovation; Regional Editor India, Journal of Family Business
Management and editorial board member on a dozen international
journals.

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From The Foreword Of
The VUCA Company
This book is a must read for management practitioners, students,
aspiring leaders and all those who believe in continuously
sharpening their skills to meet the challenges in a rapidly changing
and uncertain environment.
Shikha Sharma
MD and CEO
Axis Bank

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Praise for The VUCA Company
…an interesting book and a comprehensive guideline for those who look for a
more realistic business environment in which companies operate. I highly
recommend this book to students, scholars, policy makers, entrepreneurs and
business persons who strive to succeed and to be as effective and efficient as
possible in this "VUCA world"!
Aidin Salamzadeh, Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Entrepreneurship, Business and
Economics (Canada)
The title is very apt in the current scenario of globalization, fast changing technology
disruption, willingness to adopt non conventional business models and re-imagination
of digital world.The caselets chosen are very appropriate and will help understand the
concept in a localized context.
Arvind Kumar, Delivery Head, Tata Consultancy Services
“The book provides some useful lessons drawn from failures in an
increasingly complex world. A recommended read for those who wish to
navigate successfully in the troubled waters of corporate uncertainty.”
Dr. Himanshu Rai, Chairperson, MDP, IIM-Lucknow

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Praise for The VUCA Company
"Ours is an age of innovation and rapid transformation. The VUCA Company offers
an important set of insights and ideas to make this transformation viable. Building
on an incredibly large body of research and professional experience, the authors
masterfully inspire our creativity and need for discovery. I compliment the authors
on a job very well done."
Shaker A. Zahra, Professor & Department Chair, Robert E. Buuck Chair of
Entrepreneurship,Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota
This book is a major contribution - a game changer. It is worth every rupee.
Buy it and learn
Dr Gerard McElwee, Professor of Entrepreneurship, Sheffield Business School
Editor: International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation
The lessons from this book will be of great significance for the development
of India’s management and organizations. This is an extremely timely book.
Michael Gibbs, Faculty Director, Executive MBA Program, Clinical
Professor of Economics, The Univ. of Chicago Booth School of Business

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Praise for The VUCA Company
This book addresses a powerful issue that spans a wide spectrum of debate and
offers blended strengths. All and all, an excellent volume with the right balance in
the correct context.
Sandip Anand, Associate Professor at Xavier Institute of Management
" I am delighted to go through the initial manuscript of the book- "The VUCA
Company". The book provides insight as to how organizations could face the
challenges of VUCA and continuously move on endless journey of excellence.
C V Singh, Enterprise Excellence Consultants, Ex Vice President, Tata Motors.
"This is a fascinating book on a long-overdue topic. Without understanding
failures we can never truly understand long-term success. It is clear that past
models of business success are outmoded in today's environment, and this
book should inspire much thought and - more importantly - action."
Prof.Nick Lee: Professor of Sales and Management Science, Loughborough
University and Editor in Chief: European Journal of Marketing
…and many others

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The VUCA Company Workshop
Developing Resilience & Adaptability
in The VUCA World
A Workshop Derived From the Book
The VUCA Company
Suhayl Abidi
In Collaboration With
Len D’Costa & Murali Aiyer

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Life Long Employability
Only Workshop Of Its Kind in India
The Workshop takes off where the book leaves you
 Indian case studies developed
in-house
 Exercises developed In-house
 Multi-media video clips
 Interactive
 Pre workshop reading
 Pre & In-workshop exercises
Evolve Insights & Tools To Increase Employability of People
and Longevity of Organisations
“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read
and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”
Alvin Toffler
The program will be especially useful to
Business Leaders, Unit/ Department
Heads, Executives across functions in any
organisation, SMEs and
Entrepreneurs responsible for delivery of
results.
It is also useful to people from all walks of
life including academics who
inculcate “Resilience” among students to
handle setbacks, failures and build
an understanding about what could
sabotage success.

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Workshop Facilitators
Suhayl Abidi
Len D’Costa
An XLRI alumnus, 35 years of corporate experience. Former Vice
President HR for the Taj group of Hotels and Former President
Corporate Development and HR – Piramal group • Currently Non
Executive Chairman of a Cement company • He is a leading HR
consultant, a change leader and facilitator for Leadership Grid, Service
Excellence and CEO coach and Mentor
Murali Aiyer
Business Graduate and alumnus of Oberoi School of Learning and
Development • Former Director of HR for Crisil Limited – a
Standard and Poor’s company and Former Director of Training –
Carlson Hospitality • HR domain expert in Retail, Hospitality, Finance,
Real Estate and Manufacturing sectors

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You Might Travel The World Seeking The Best
Teacher, Only to Discover That it is
"Good Judgement Comes From Experience,
Experience Comes From Bad Judgment“ – Einstein

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We Need to Learn From Failures Today
More Than Ever
VUCA Environment is here to stay and
will only increase in intensity
You may model, manage or mitigate
aspects of risk…
But you MUST prepare for uncertainty!

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To know more about the book
The VUCA Company
And
Our Workshops
Contact
Suhayl Abidi
Mob: +9193240 53831
Email: suhayl@saltlabs.co.in
www.vucacompany.com