Individual Decision-Making Under VUCA Conditions Volatility Rapid, Unpredictable Change Uncertainty Unknown Outcomes Complexity Multiple Interconnections Ambiguity Multiple Interpretations Individual Decision-Maker Cognitive Biases Information Processing Limits Emotional Responses Heightens Increases Overloads Intensifies Decision Quality Compromised Decision Outcomes Decreased Accuracy • Over-reliance on heuristics • Confirmation bias • Premature closure Strategic Limitations • Risk avoidance/seeking • Short-term focus • Limited scenario planning Volatility Impact Uncertainty Impact Individual Homo Sapiens Processing VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity) 0ms 15ms 200ms 500ms 1000ms+ VUCA Emotional Processing (15ms) Amygdala Insula Fear Anxiety Fight/Flight Confusion Alertness Social Processing (200ms) mPFC TPJ Social Reference Status Concern Trust Assessment Cognitive Processing (500ms) DLPFC OFC Problem Solving Mental Models Scenario Planning Continuous feedback and integration Individual Adaptive Response Norepinephrine Cortisol Oxytocin Serotonin Acetylcholine GABA/Dopamine Impact of Complexity and Ambiguity on Decision-Making From Emotional Reactions to Strategic Approaches Start Complexity & Ambiguity 0ms 15ms 200ms 500ms 1000ms+ EMOTIONAL (15ms) SOCIAL (200ms) COGNITIVE (500ms) Decision-Making Impact Risk Avoidance Binary Thinking Emotional Heuristics Fight Flight Freeze Decision Quality (Low) Rapid, Intuitive, Often Biased Decision-Making Impact Conformity Bias Authority Deference Social Risk Assessment Consensus Hierarchy Decision Quality (Medium) Collaborative, Norm-Based Decision-Making Impact Analytical Processing Trade-off Evaluation Uncertainty Tolerance Analyze Model Test Decision Quality (High) Strategic, Systematic, Adaptive Integrated Decision Process FAST COLLABORATIVE ANALYTICAL ADAPTIVE ITERATIVE Feedback 0ms 15ms 200ms 500ms 1000ms+ Amygdala 15ms Thalamus Sensory Input Norepinephrine Adrenaline Freeze/Fight/Flight Limbic System 200ms TPJ Oxytocin Serotonin Social Signaling Prefrontal Cortex 500ms GABA Acetylcholine Problem-solving Integration & Feedback Processing Systems Emotional (15ms) Social (200ms) Cognitive (500ms) Neurotransmitters Neurological Processing of Volatility in the Brain Three-Stage Cascade: Emotional → Social → Cognitive
