Framing uncertainty: from VUCA to BANI to PUMO in contemporary management discourse

Purpose This paper aims to address a gap in organisational scholarship by examining how uncertainty acronyms such as VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity), BANI (Brittle, Anxious, Nonlinear and Incomprehensible) and the emerging PUMO (Polarised, Unthinkable, Metamorphic and Overheated) function as evolving metaphors with identifiable lifecycles. While widely used in practitioner discourse, these frames have rarely been analysed systematically at the intersection of metaphor theory and management fashion theory. Design/methodology/approach The study adopts a conceptual and discursive approach, integrating management fashion theory and metaphor theory. Bibliometric trends, search data and secondary sources are used illustratively to trace the emergence, diffusion and stabilisation of uncertainty metaphors. Findings The analysis shows that VUCA became institutionalised as a turbulence frame; BANI reframed uncertainty through fragility and anxiety; and PUMO represents an emergent overlay emphasising polarisation and sustained pressure. These metaphors operate both as cognitive frames shaping managerial sensemaking and as fashionable knowledge objects that diffuse through supply-side and platform-mediated channels. Originality/value The paper introduces a metaphor-lifecycle lens to organisational uncertainty; clarifies how uncertainty metaphors shape managerial attention and leadership identities; and explains their patterned discursive evolution without implying predictive authority over organisational outcomes.