Succeeding with Chaos

Have you been paying attention to the fast-paced, mainly technology-driven changes taking place in our world these past few years? Have you been watching as technologies have imploded traditional models for business, news and politics, blazing new paths into how we communicate, work, sell, and live? Are you struggling, maybe even trying to read the tea leaves in order to make sense out of what all these changes mean? Well, perhaps the chaos we’ve been observing and experiencing has really been a precursor for what we’ll be dealing with in the future – ambiguity!

I recently read Robert Safian’s Special Report: The Secrets of Generation Flux which appears in this month's Fast Company magazine, and strongly recommend that you check it out. In it, Safian explores the parallels between Chaos Theory and the uncertainty rocking our organizations from the board rooms to the cubicles. One quote in particular summed up the uniqueness of the dilemma. This is a comment offered by D. J. Patil, Data Scientist with Greylock Partners on how forecasting business strategies has transitioned to a process resembling the work of meteorologists:

"There are some times when you can predict weather well for the next 15 days. Other times, you can only really forecast a couple of days. Sometimes you can’t predict the next two hours."

Isn’t that the truth? So how do organizations succeed when there is so much change and chaos around the globe impacting so many different markets? What impact will the speed and adoption of technologies have on traditional business planning models and our abilities to conceive paths for growth and expansion, particularly as the possibilities to glimpse at what the future requires continue to decline?

Safian starts with one certainty:  "the next decade or two will be defined more by fluidity than by any new, settled paradigm; if there is a pattern to all this, it is that there is no pattern." Now, I don’t know about you, but that certainly sums up what I’ve been experiencing within my business and client engagements. The only thing we can really count on is that things are going to change; and those changes are being driven more rapidly than ever by diverse individuals and situations around the globe.

Safian defines his term Generation Flux (or GenFlux) very broadly – it’s not so much an age thing, as it is a psychological attitude. GenFlux includes those individuals with a "mind-set that embraces instability, and that tolerates – and even enjoys – recalibrating careers, business models and assumptions." Considering what we know about personality types and work preferences, this definition will terrify a lot of people, while others will be extremely motivated by the blank paper and box of crayons they’ve just been given.

Here are a few of the "secrets" I took away from the report:

• Chaotic disruption is rampant. No industry or corner of the globe is safe.
• Clarity of mission and purpose is critical. 
• Institutions as we’ve known them are out of date and too much structure and "rules" are pointless.
• The ability to acquire new skills is the most important skill set.
• We need to improve leadership development approaches to strengthen confidence for working with changing technologies, as well as uncertainty and risk.
• Trying to replicate what worked yesterday only leaves you more vulnerable; let it go. 
• Building adaptability skills is a requirement to be future-focused; a skill Safian labels as a signature trait of Generation Flux.
• Strategies built on nostalgia erode opportunities for risk-taking and growth. Accept that the world is shifting and that new patterns are required.
• The "long" career is dead. Employees will be changing jobs, and companies, at an increasingly faster pace.
• Command-and-control hierarchical structures are disintegrating.
• What helps one organization succeed is not guaranteed to work for another. Change strategies must be customized to the organization, mission, values and culture.

So What’s Next?

According to Safian and the GenFlux leaders he interviewed, firms that excel in the future will be those who have developed leaders and employees comfortable with ambiguity and uncertainty. They will be organizations brave enough to question their status quo, even when the answers may be surrounded in fog. These organizations will aggressively seek out ways to plan and implement change initiatives, not waiting for change to approach them.

Mr. Safian concludes his article with an appropriate quote from Charles Darwin:

"It is not the strongest of the species that survives; nor the most intelligent. It is the one that is most adaptable to change."

As a passionate Change Management Consultant, this article was exciting to read. It was exhilarating to be able to intellectually conceptualize what I’ve been feeling and seeing. But at the same time, I know organizations historically haven’t been very good at assessing, designing, and implementing change. History shows that some change initiatives fail because leaders underestimate the time or investment required for moving the "operational" and "people" meters in a successful manner. Or, they fail because sponsors got impatient and decided instead to mandate employee change, or worse, they didn’t approach the change in a collaborative way, with as many stakeholders as possible, and resistance became the kiss of death.

Whatever the reasons, we need to get better at it and improve our results. If one or two decades of change will be required to advance us to the next pattern of predictable business norms, that’s a lot of change. That’s why I think that in addition to building competencies necessary to be successful in a world of ambiguity, leaders must also develop competencies for leading change.

I truly enjoyed Mr. Safian’s article and hope you will take the time to read it. In addition, the video link on my whiteboard below is an interesting look at applying Chaos Theory to planning. Although David Thorpe is speaking about fractals and urban forms, his message is transferrable to organizational planning. He recommends two great books in this video that I think you’ll also enjoy:

Leadership and the New Science by Margaret Wheatley and Chaos: Making a New Science by James Gleick.

Thinking about the operational and human resource impacts of a changing global marketplace can be overwhelming for any organization. Consider these questions:

• What could the organization do differently if strategies where intentionally aligned with clear mission and value commitments?
• What does fast-paced change mean to the levels of structure and empowerment supporting hiring, engagement and developmental strategies; especially if employees are no longer content with structured and traditional career paths?
• The term "blended background" seems to strengthen an individual’s probability for success with change and ambiguity. What does that do to rigid qualification standards for selecting candidates, projects, locations, products and services?

Are the ideas of Generation Flux a fad? I don’t think so, and I think concepts like these and others written about by well-known thought leaders are pointing us to a future mandating "think-on-your-feet" creativity. Surely the fact that thought leaders are even taking the time to explore these concepts warrants at least a new look at what your organization is doing and what it could be doing if it let go of fear.

We’ve got some exciting and challenging days ahead. I hope I’ve given you new food for thought. I welcome your comments to my posting; please click below. If you found this article interesting I’m happy for you to pass it along. Have a great week.


This article was written by Deborah A. King, SPHR, CEO and Sr. Organizational Effectiveness Consultant with Evolution Management, Inc. Debbie and her team are energized about changing times and can help your organization navigate the uncertain journey of individual, team and organizational change. Contact us for more information: www.evolutionmgt.com or 770.587.9032.

Explore the idea of applying Chaos Theory to city planning and how it can work for your industry - David Thorpe