Influence of Chaos in Business

Chaos gets a bum rap

When I think of chaos I envision a tropical storm cutting through a city, thousands of ants meandering with no apparent purpose, travelers in Grand Central Station, the New York Stock Exchange, and a clowder of cats. Words that come to mind include uncertainty, disorder, disaster, ambiguity, risk, and indecision. Or, how about order, creativity, chance, opportunity, diversity and evolution? Just in time for the historically significant economic downturn of 1987, Thriving on Chaos (by Tom Peters) hit the book stores to high acclaim. Peters posited the then-absurd notion that chaos can be a friend to business. As popular as it was, it now seems we've allowed this prophetic masterpiece to fade into the dark recesses. Well, we have reinforcements from the sciences!

In conventional vernacular, chaos is generally accepted as those dangerous, random, disruptive events in our lives. This fits nicely into the western-manner of separating good and evil. Dividing things up in this manner simplifies tagging and sequestering our nemeses and gathering and welcoming the good stuff. This satisfies – until we discover, hidden deep within the disposed-of bad stuff, were gems of uniquely valuable opportunity. Upon tossing-out chaos, lock-stock and barrel, we’ve essentially thrown the baby out with the bath water….

To unlock the hidden gems in chaos we require realignment of our conventionally defined notion of chaos with help from quantum mechanics, fractal geometry, information sciences, and eastern philosophy. For purposes of distinguishing our science and philosophy version from the conventional, I'll capitalize the former as Chaos. Within its domain, Chaos is a complex, living, self-organizing force of nature. Okay, I don’t believe in ghosts either – so stay with me…

The two versions share at least one common behavior; either may crash the party anytime, anywhere. Uniquely however, our Chaos is alive; arriving complete with most of the genes it needs to achieve its eventual form. It will fetch the remainder from sources, or stimulants, in its available surroundings; some of which we have the power to influence, and a few auto-fold-in by way of random selection. Examples that come to mind include the systems that power natural evolution of species, world financial markets (e.g. Wall Street), our careers, our family life, and the behavior of celestial bodies. And, oh, fractals.

We react and deal with Chaos in as-many and varied ways. Some of us have little or no tolerance for uncertainty. Some of us are paid handsomely to hunt it down and snuff it out; yet where we may see only ambiguity and discord, an insightful few possess the unique talent for coaxing opportunity from Chaos, and (ah!) from others’ reactions to it. Again, the stock market comes to mind here.

A minority of esoteric artisan-businesses live comfortably near the edge of Laissez-faire Chaos; but for the rest of us, the trick is to harvest and channel the creative by-products of our Chaos-connected artisans (the people doing the work) with controlled grace. Many managers carry into their promotions the idea that the problem-solving skills that set them apart as an artisan suffice to continue their success as an executive. Unfortunately this too-often results in i-know-best doctrines stunting wisdom of the masses – or better, wisdom of the trenches. It is the trenches where much Chaos channeling and harvesting takes place, and here is where our manager-leader is no longer directly connected. "Just hold on loosely but don' let go / If you cling too tightly you're gonna loose control." - from 38 Special's 'Hold On Loosely.'

All actors on the stage of uncertainty perform an important and symbiotic role. In any organization, talented leadership will ensure that visions, missions, and contributors are selected to make the most of uncertainty and Chaos; e.g. a well-trained military prepares for the fog of war NOT by lazing around in a fog. Training in a formal structured environment remains key, but not to the exclusion of natural ability to self-organize and tap into the creative judgment needed to remain alert to circumstances. We prepare and then trust our well-trained and carefully-selected troops to enmesh with Chaos; in this way they are more likely to deliver superior results! The difference is the choice between business by arrogance, myopia, and fear; leading to complacency, unwanted surprises, and organizational entropy -- vs. business with creativity, diversity, and vision; leading to evolution, growth and fitness.

Chaos is the feared, venerate, and omnipresent force of nature – the 800 pound guerilla. It can disrupt best-laid plans, but if channeled and harvested with grace and savvy it will deliver the diverse byproducts required to remain competitive and fit in today’s hypercompetitive economy.

What do you think?

Your comments and suggestions will help shape an article I am writing for ISSIG.

Albert John Cacace MBA, PMP Chief Analyst & Consultant Multimedia Republic www.multimediarepublic.com Boca Raton, Fl USA

Dear Mr. Cacace,

I agree with you.

And I also disagree.

Chaos as a force of nature is not to be feared but revered. It allows for randomness - the customers who walk through the doors, the unique transactions. It also allows for creativity, for ideas to be spawned, to generate, to compose new melodies. Chaos/randomness is also an important factor in these polls, the reason that they work.

Why? Because that kind of chaos is functioning in a framework. A grand design. Like the fractals, the melodies, and the kaleidescope. The kaleidescope has pieces of colored glass randomly bouncing around in a cylinder with mirrors. The important thing to remember here is, they are in the cylinder with the mirrors.

But what if the cylinder and mirrors break apart and the colored glass pieces fall to the ground?

Your poll is about organizations. How interesting to apply chaos to the word "organization". The organization I work for is in the young stages, and they reject processes and frameworks of any kind; and this has manifested in heavy deterioration before really getting out of the gate. The proverbial kaleidescope has broken apart. There's no knob to turn for the little pieces of colored glass to bounce around in freely.

It proves that life mirrors the universe, the chaos and order in the celestial sphere. There is a grand design for the way that the principles of chaos and order work as well. Order has been easy to embrace since the days of Copernicus, for it has been easier to understand. Chaos is now the next great frontier, but we will go at it with polls and computers and studies. We will see it as the polar opposite of order, one which cannot function without the other.

This is an interesting study and I look forward to the findings. Sorry that someone flagged your poll. I wish you the best in it. - Lady G

"Chaos is the feared, venerate, and omnipresent force of nature – the 800 pound guerilla. It can disrupt best-laid plans, but if channeled and harvested with grace and savvy it will deliver the diverse byproducts required to remain competitive and fit in today’s hypercompetitive economy."

How truly apt at this juncture in economics and politics. Whether good use is made, time will yet tell, depending upon whether the new president, whoever he may be, can channel and harvest it with grace and savvy. It looks as though the best experiment of all for your study is in play.

Regards

Dear Lady G. Thank you for the comment. Your view on this topic is precisely where the study's hypothesis resides. You will see, when the resulting article is published, that my recommendation to business is that leaders must learn to skillfully guide and nourish chaos for its hidden gems. Funny that you mention colored glass in a kaleidescope -- a fitting analogy indeed. This is the way to competitive fitness in a hypercompetitive global economy. Stay tuned -- and I will post the link to the final article in January/February 2009.
Kind regards, Al