What does it say to you?
- stress, out of control, barely surviving?
OR
- dynamic, exciting, feeling alive?
I often say to colleagues and friends that it's good to live on the edge of chaos.
Coming from someone that is naturally organised and likes to get things done well, this may seem like a contradiction. Maybe it is. Increasingly I find though that you can always have too much or indeed too little of almost anything. For example; fun, pain, sleep, wakefulness, work, play, beer, food, heat, cold. Add to that list order and chaos.
Order is great when it's obvious when what needs to happen. Controlled processes are perfect for things like tax returns, train timetables, airline safety and manufacturing efficiency.
Chaos however is very useful when is not obvious about what needs to happen next.
Innovation and the entrepreneurial spirit that pushes our society and economy forward requires a certain randomness to succeed. Through conflict of opinion, through chance encounters in the corridor, through exposure to different cultures, industries and methods, through trial and error it's through these unordered experiences that we build insight that helps us progress.
Then, ideas are worth nothing without execution, so you need to get ordered to see any results.
In my experience, it generally pays to have process, but only just enough process.
An unstructured mind needs to embrace order to see value come from their ideas. A structured mind needs to embrace chaos to create the conditions for success.
Managers in an organisation can help construct a culture that leans towards order or chaos. At any time in the history of a movement, the balance will need to lean towards one or the other.
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