BANI: Flexible leadership in the age of chaos – Learning from Pippi Longstocking

We make the BANI World the way we want to.

BANI-Führung-Pippi-Langstrumpf

What exactly is BANI, and how does it relate to me, and particularly, Pippi Longstocking?

Imagine the BANI world is like a modern big city, full of hustle, uncertainty and constant change. And now imagine that in this city lives Pippi Longstocking, the iconic, courageous and independent figure of our childhood. The heroine known for her strength, resilience, courage, creativity and unrelenting optimism.
These qualities are more essential than ever in today’s BANI world because our world is more chaotic and unpredictable than ever before.

With one crisis after another, calmness, reliability (‘Hello, Deutsche Bahn!’) and consistency are hard to find.

This obviously affects both our working lives and our understanding of corporate governance.

How can flexible leadership — in the sense of heading smartly towards common goals, be effectively designed in the BANI world? How can we swiftly come up with new solutions while simultaneously fostering resilience, adaptability, and optimism in the company?

In this article, I would like to answer these questions using BANI and show you how you can use the newly acquired knowledge for your understanding of leadership.
In addition, I’d like to introduce you to a few specific examples that will make you want to try it out.

Welcome to the Bani world!

But let’s return to the beginning, because, after all, we clearly produce the best ideas when moving backwards, as far as Pippi is concerned, that is.
So I asked myself what Pippi Longstocking would have done to navigate herself along with her team, aka Tommy and Annika, Little Uncle & Monkey, through the BANI world. After all, as we know, she sees the world ‘Widdewidde the way she wants to.’

So, in order to approach the intangible, namely with the question of what BANI actually is and what it can mean for you as a leader and for your organisation, let’s start with the tangible.

What is BANI? The BANI definition

The only recently introduced BANI model simply means to embrace that we live in an ever-changing, chaotic world and can actively seize the opportunities arising therefrom towards a world worth living in. But where does the term BANI come from? In the book ‘Facing the age of chaos’ by Jamais Cascio, published in 2020, he first described the logic of ‘BANI’ as a sensemaking model. BANI is an acronym made up of the words Brittle, Anxious, Non-linear and Incomprehensible. (Source: Jamais Cascio: Facing the Age of Chaos)

For me, BANI is an attitude and helps make sense of the chaotic events of the 21st century.

It adds to the rather outdated VUCA model for complex environments and also takes chaotic conditions into account.

BANI VS. VUCA

Unlike VUCA, BANI is a current model that has been adapted to meet today’s situation.

The VUCA model is an acronym composed by the words volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. It has its origins, like many other concepts and achievements of our time, in the military. It can be traced back to the uncertainty and tensions caused by the aftermath of the Cold War and became popular in the 1990s (source: Wikipedia). And it helped to describe the challenges of an increasingly complex and unstable world.

But in today’s world, the dynamics have changed, the complexity has maximised, and the chaos has multiplied. The speed and extent of change have increased so dramatically that VUCA is often no longer sufficient to grasp today’s reality. The BANI model has emerged from this change.

BANI is here to stay.

We will continue to face multiple crises at the same time. This means that we are no longer predominantly in complex space, but increasingly in chaotic space, which regularly requires rapid action. To understand the differences between complex and chaotic spaces, it is worth taking a look at the Cynefin framework.

The Cynefin Framework

As described in the Cynefin model, systems can be categorised into four different domains (clear, complicated, complex and chaotic) and can move from one domain to another over time. (Source: Digitalisierungscoach (in German))

A system can be clear to begin with, then become complicated or even complex. However, by taking appropriate measures and reducing dependencies, the system can evolve from complex back to complicated. These systems can be made comprehensible with VUCA.

It’s quite different in the chaotic space. It follows no pattern or rules, causality is not given.

Everything is connected in some way, but at the same time entangled. Mutual relationships make dynamics seem unmanageable, requiring quick action.

In what way can BANI help us? And how would Pippi deal with it? We’ll get to that in a moment, I promise.

In the ongoing discussion on BANI, the question arises as to if these are indeed chaotic times. In contrast to complex times, as described in the Cynefin framework, chaotic times are characterised by unpredictability and a lack of structure.

While complex systems are difficult to understand due to their many interconnected elements, we are unable to recognise any fixed patterns or stable systems in chaotic times.

Chaos theory and BANI

Chaos theory deals with complex systems that are very sensitive to initial conditions and describes how chaos occurs.

Chaos is also something that is non-linear. Even small changes in a system (such as the economy or an ecosystem) can have major, unforeseeable effects.

A well-known example is the butterfly effect, which takes its name from the fact that a fluttering butterfly in Brazil can influence the atmosphere and thereby contribute to a hurricane in Texas. The term butterfly effect was coined by Edward Lorenz, the pioneer of chaos theory. (Source: ARD Alpha (in German))

Addressing fear and insecurity with self-care and mindfulness

Anxious – We can tackle so-called ‘negative’ feelings such as fear and insecurity with self-care and mindfulness. Most managers don’t take enough breaks.

Small, pleasurable breaks, such as simply sitting on a park bench, consciously taking in the beauty of nature and breathing calmly into various parts of the body, often have a great and calming effect on the ‘system’.

‘And then you also have to have time to just sit around and stare into space’ (Pippi Longstocking)

Do you find that difficult? You can learn self-care and mindfulness through specific sensory joy coaching, for example, which will help you to grow awareness and perception when you practice evolving your sensory joy and enhancing your joie de vivre.

Another great way to achieve rapid, noticeable impact is to practice embodiment exercises as well as Process and Embodiment-focused Psychology (PEP), which is based on tapping techniques.

Founder Dr. Michael Bohne describes it as “a mindfulness-based additional technique that activates self-efficacy” and is also ideal for incorporating into coaching sessions.

To overcome our fear, we should first and foremost know what exactly it is that scares us.

A 2012 study conducted by UCLA with 88 arachnophobic people (fear of spiders) and a red Chilean tarantula revealed that we can better regulate our feelings if we can name and correctly classify them.

This technique is called “affective labelling” and can also be applied to the uncertainty in the BANI framework.

If we talk to our colleagues and superiors about our insecurities and feelings, for example in regular retrospectives, it often creates an emotional connection that can help to resolve insecurities, improve dealing with fears and remain capable of acting as a team.

Approach non-linearity with flexibility, creativity, and systemic thinking

As previously described, we live in a world in which causality, cause equals effect, no longer prevails. Non-linearity therefore calls for flexibility, creativity and systemic thinking.

We can approach this level of BANI with a lot of candour and adaptation.

For example, you can co-create solutions with people from a wide range of fields, critically scrutinise conventional solutions, and playfully generate new ideas.

Lego Serious Play, Design Thinking or even Reverse Mentoring (Pippi Longstocking would call it walking backwards) are proven techniques in an agile environment for dealing with non-linearity in a team.

You can also use digital tools such as virtual reality or AI.

AI systems can analyse large amounts of data in real time and provide valuable insights that contribute to the quality of decision-making. Predictive analytics can identify trends and patterns that human analysts might overlook.

This can help you as a leader to react faster to changes and make informed decisions. Another positive effect: AI can take on repetitive tasks, freeing up more resources for creative and strategic tasks.

Approaching incomprehensibility with transparency and intuition

You can deal with the uncertainty caused by digitalisation by improving your digital literacy. This means that we all need to improve our understanding of how digital technologies work and how they affect our lives.

Knowledge, transparency, and intuition are useful tools for the incomprehensible BANI world.

If we deal with knowledge and information in a transparent and open way, while remaining vigilant and critical, listening to our gut feeling and following our values compass, we can handle complex and chaotic situations better. Which in turn means that we can navigate ourselves and others through the incomprehensible and make wiser, data-oriented decisions.

Example: How Patagonia leads successfully, sustainably and antifragile in the BANI world

A good example of successfully navigating through the BANI world in a way that is both profitable and antifragile is the outdoor brand Patagonia. Patagonia’s leadership, in particular founder Yvon Chouinard, has shaped a corporate culture based on responsibility, creativity, and commitment.

This culture nurtures organisational resilience and strengthens the company against external stimuli and shocks.
Patagonia also pursues a long-term strategy based on sustainability and continuous improvement.

This long-term mindset allows the company to look beyond short-term profits and create a stable base for future growth and success.

The company has shown that it is able to overcome crises by remaining true to its values and principles, while also remaining agile and adaptable.

The ability to remain true to one’s values in difficult times, while also being innovative and adaptable, contributes to the antifragile nature of the organisation.

I believe that this is what Pippi Longstocking and good leadership have in common: keeping an open mind, staying creative and agile, actively seeking connection to others, and still remaining true to your values.

Pippi Longstocking as a BANI ambassador

And this is where Pippi Longstocking comes into play again as a BANI ambassador. We can learn a lot by seeing the BANI world through her eyes. Pippi is known for her unconventionality, creativity, optimism, and her ability to make the most of every situation.

Pippi Longstocking is a character who wonderfully embodies and exemplifies the principles of the 4C model (creativity, critical thinking, communication, collaboration).

She also has overcome many obstacles in her life, such as the loss of her mother or successfully fending off pirates, police officers and burglars.

These experiences have not only made her more resilient, adaptable and mindful – “And then you also have to have time to just sit and stare into space” — but also antifragile, i.e. embracing change and seizing opportunities. Even if she sometimes comes across as a bit “goofy”.

Pippi would probably also venture down unusual paths to relieve stress, such as having a spontaneous picnic in the middle of the hybrid office day.

In the BANI world, Pippi would demonstrate her resilience by remaining curious and positive in the face of setbacks and uncertainties, and by embolding other people to muster the courage. She would do so in the full knowledge that this yields a hoard waiting to be unearthed.

When an approach fails or unforeseen problems arise, Pippi would use her courage and determination to find unconventional solutions and inspire her “team” aka her coopetition to think outside the box.

The coopetition is about finding ways to work together while also competing with each other in certain areas.

BANI: Accepting challenges and overcoming them together

Thus, BANI is relevant because it allows us to better grasp reality. It provides a framework for recognising and overcoming the challenges of our time. By consciously perceiving the BANI world, we can promote strategies to become more resilient, flexible, mindful, adaptable, creative and transparent in dealing with constant change.

Whether in our professional or private lives, these skills are more important than ever.

Let’s meet the challenges of the BANI world together with the courage and determination of Pippi.

Let’s face the vulnerabilities with resilient and antifragile organisations, the fears with self-care, especially in our daily work, the non-linearity with creativity and modern ways of working, and the incomprehensibility with intuition and learned “digital literacy” for more transparency.

As a result, not only can we meet the challenges of digital transformation, but we can also co-create and coopetitate new ways and solutions in the BANI world.

Together, we can create a hybrid environment that nurtures innovation, collaboration, healthy competition as well as adaptability.

Let’s embark on this journey together and shape the world the way we want to.

With the right strategies and an antifragile mindset, we can jointly take advantage of multiple crises to advance our global progress.

BANI Resilienz