This Is the Work Now
In this episode of Walk the Walk, Scott McLarty, Head of School at Providence High School, discusses the work that must be done, especially when the world feels unsteady.
We’ve spent decades trying to understand a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world. And that work matters. Naming reality matters. Making sense of what’s changing around us matters.
But here’s the truth we can’t ignore:
VUCA no longer adequately captures the realities of our present time.
VUCA helped us describe the conditions we are living in. It gave leaders, educators, and institutions a shared language for the disruption and speed of our time. But something has shifted. VUCA no longer captures the full weight or complexity of this moment.
Because the challenge now isn’t just external. It’s internal.
BANI was coined by futurist Jamais Cascio in 2018 to describe the fragility, anxiety, non-linearity, and incomprehensibility of this moment. BANI is not just in systems and structures, but in people. In students. In parents. In educators. In leaders. In ourselves.
BANI doesn’t replace VUCA. It reveals its impact.
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Systems that once seemed stable now shatter instead of bend.
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Anxiety has become ubiquitous rather than situational.
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Effort and outcome no longer move in straight lines.
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And shared meaning - about truth, purpose, and belonging - feels harder to hold onto.
This isn’t a failure of intelligence or effort. It’s a sign that the ground has shifted.
And that’s why Walk the Walk exists.
This series isn’t about keeping up with change. It’s about becoming the kind of people who can live well within it. Because the world doesn’t need us to do more. It needs us to be different.
Over the past several weeks, we’ve been practicing exactly that kind of formation.
When the world is volatile, we ground ourselves - not by clinging to control, but by rooting ourselves in what endures.
When the world is uncertain, we get curious - choosing openness over fear, learning over defensiveness.
When the world is complex, we seek wisdom - slowing down, asking deeper questions, and allowing awe to replace overwhelm.
When the world is ambiguous, we welcome paradox - learning to live faithfully in the tension between truths rather than collapsing into false choices.
These are not coping strategies. They are ways of being.
At Providence, this work is deeply aligned with our mission and heritage. The Sisters of Providence never waited for clarity before acting. They trusted Providence enough to move forward with courage, grounded in relationship, guided by values, and attentive to the needs of the most vulnerable. They understood something we’re rediscovering now: formation matters more than certainty.
In the weeks ahead, Walk the Walk will take us more intentionally into the BANI landscape, not to diagnose what’s broken, but to practice what heals and what calms in the midst of chaos.
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If the world is brittle, we must stay connected.
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If the world is anxious, we must build resilience.
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If the world is nonlinear, we must become agile.
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If the world is incomprehensible, we must embrace mystery.
This is not abstract work. It’s deeply human. It’s formation. It’s the work of becoming people others can trust, especially when the world feels unsteady.
The world will keep changing. That much is certain.
The real question - the one that matters most - is this:
Who do we choose to be?
That’s the work now.
Thank you for walking the walk with me. See you next time.
—Scott McLarty