Navigating Rocks in the Fog

Imagine that you’re the captain of a container ship, moving valuable cargo all over the world. You’re also part of a worldwide network of maritime container shipping vessels that work together across consolidated routes to provide services. Businesses and people all over the world are depending on you to deliver your goods on time. This is your livelihood and traveling in the open water is your passion.

You’re used to navigating familiar oceanic courses and know how to handle calm or stormy waters. You communicate regularly with your seafaring colleagues to share information on the weather and other details to maximize the safe and efficient operation of your ship.

One day an alarming message comes across the satellite communications system. There are multiple large rocks protruding from the water in the seas ahead. No one knows where they came from, they just seemingly appeared out of nowhere, and no one has ever seen anything like it in the middle of the sea. Some are lurking just beneath the surface of the water, while others are protruding 100 to 150 feet up; as tall as a 10 to 15 story building.

To add to the confusion, dense fog covers the area, making it difficult to see the rocks until you’re almost upon them. Hitting one will certainly cause severe damage to your vessel and delay or inhibit timely delivery of your goods. It could even sink it. This is an unimaginable occurrence.

You’re too far along in your journey to turn back. Therefore, you have no choice but to power down your engine and creep slowly along. That’s when you realize that your radar and GPS systems are malfunctioning. You must visually navigate the ship around the obstructions. It’s an intense “all hands-on deck” moment. Most of the strategies that you normally employ in a crisis won’t work here. What do you do?

As leaders we come to expect certain challenges in our work. We believe we know the controllable forces vs the variable forces. But what happens when the basis of our expectations, the very foundation that we operate on, presents new and unimaginable obstacles that present unbelievable and disheartening roadblocks?

Many Roads Lead to Rome

Your mission hasn’t changed but your method must. You still have the same goal. You simply must find a different means of accomplishing it, even if it feels unnatural and ineffective. Even if it means dramatically changing your approach. This requires reframing the challenge in your mind and that of your team; resetting your expectations; repositioning your resources.

What are your next moves?
  • Replot the course – Rethink the strategic approaches that will help you accomplish your goals in this new environment. Particularly one that is “brittle, anxious, non-linear and incomprehensible” (BANI is the newest acronym replacing VUCA-volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous 1). This means that you cannot assume that the policies, structures, and norms of the past will continue into the future. It requires new levels of thinking, adaptation, and flexibility. It requires identifying new ways of moving forward, and releasing previously held business, professional and personal assumptions. You may need to identify multiple strategic alternatives and shift between them as necessary.
  • Reallocate resources – The journey and process of accomplishing your mission will have a different cost structure. Consumer preferences, revenue sources, suppliers, service requirements, and production costs may shift. Material shortages may force different decisions. Evaluate your priorities in light of your new strategies to make the necessary trade-off decisions. And consider options that you would have quickly dismissed in the past.
  • Collaborate and communicate new strategies – This means working with your stakeholders (internal and external) to gain alignment and buy-in on your strategic shift ensuring you will continue to meet their needs. The challenge is simplifying the complexity of your decisions while simultaneously helping them to understand the necessity.

This will impact business metrics, financial outcomes, product plans, service agreements and more. The shift should be acknowledged and will take time to be fully implemented and understood. Additionally, grasp the changes lightly, as there are likely to be more rocks to navigate, more fog to diminish vision on the pathway ahead. But remember that many roads lead to Rome.

  1. Kraaijenbrink, Jeroen. “What BANI Really Means (And How It Corrects Your World View). Forbes, June 22, 2022., https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeroenkraaijenbrink/2022/06/22/what-bani-really-means-and-how-it-corrects-your-world-view/. Accessed: March 27, 2025.

Copyright 2025 Priscilla Archangel

Image by Muhammad Alfariz from Pixabay

 

Want more leadership tips read past leadership articles or check out the book LeaderVantage.