The Power of Chaos
I never have a clean desk or inbox zero.
Well, I did for a few minutes once…
In some ways I have a high tolerance for clutter and I often respond well to competing priorities and demands for my attention. I can handle some uncertainty and I don’t mind having to adapt on the fly in my areas of strength.
But I do need some stability to be at my best.
Many years ago I had a boss who could be very impulsive. I never went into a meeting fully confident that I could predict how it would turn out. Sudden shifts in tone or strategy could happen out of the blue and I’d be left trying to figure out how to implement them.
In someways I guess that kept me on my toes, which I think they liked.
But it also made it difficult for me to think long term after a few instances of plans that I thought were clearly agreed upon being jettisoned with no notice, sometimes without due consideration for the effects that would follow.
Much of the world live with high levels of instability all the time. It undermines progress, wellness, and trust. Some people exploit these situations for selfish profits.
Sadly, these people are finding more and more opportunities to cause and prey on chaos in our own, historically stable, society. They have demonstrated that with enough fear, blame, and loss of confidence in people and systems, there are vulnerabilities exposed that can be turned into power and profit for the unscrupulous.
There is enough uncertainty in our lives without bad actors deliberately leveraging it for their own cynical purposes.
As leaders we need to be expert in guiding our people through turmoil. We need to continually remind them of what is unchanging in our organization: our core values, the heart of our mission, and our commitment to the people we serve and work with.
That means approaching change with as much care as possible. It requires us to be totally honest about risks and the costs of adapting; while offering as much confidence as we can muster that the change can succeed.
As chaos increases, there is a predictable pattern where people will be unsettled, emotional, and more likely to put their own interests first. We need to provide an alternative where compassion, service, and a healthy balance of feelings and facts are consistent. This isn’t toxic positivity, it’s fierce commitment to our belief that better is possible and worth striving for.
In many ways, steady hope is an act of rebellion against those that provoke instability.