NAVIGATING FROM CHAOS TO COMFORT

In an article on “Was Our Universe born in Chaos?” published in 2017 in the Forbes Magazine, Paul Halpern, the author writes in her concluding lines “The regularity of the nighttime sky might be a comforting thought, but the next time you see it, consider that what's visible to you might only be a small, relatively tranquil patch of a greater, turbulent ocean.” These lines probably indicate the relationship between the chaos and comfort. The concept of chaos has been under serious debate both on the platforms of Mathematics and Physics. Various hypotheses and theories have been put forward to explain the phenomenon of ‘chaos’, but one underlying message has been that it is all about managing ‘the randomness’, managing the latent and kinaesthetic energy, in particles and space. The global acknowledgement of the “Butterfly effect” as significant to the cosmic dynamics resulting and consequent to chaos, is proof enough to the interdependent world both at the macro level as well as at the micro level.

Paul Halpern writes “The term “chaotic” in this context, as coined by James Yorke of the University of Maryland in 1975, refers to a type of behaviour that, while specified by a set of deterministic equations, is so highly sensitive to initial conditions that long-term prediction becomes effectively impossible. Any minute deviation in the initial values leads to huge differences in the long-term behaviour, rendering long terms forecasts inaccurate or even impossible.” Such significant and powerful impacts are dominant in all-natural phenomenon like weather or war, like market dynamics or of human stupidity.

Says Tom Peters, the Management Guru “Chaos theory has direct bearing on several fields of inquiry, including areas as diverse as economics, social theory, and music theory. Chaotic effects are found in innumerable everyday events, such as the dripping of a faucet, the waving of a flag in the breeze, the patterns of weather, and the activity within the human brain.”

The conflict between the acceptance of chaos as a way of existential crisis and order as an inevitable necessity for comfort and peace, have been a point of discussion even beyond the coffee tables of sociologists and philosophers. The argument that one must learn to live with chaos was considered more than a priestly advice and has been countered effectively by the critiques as ‘chaos is an exhibition of anarchy.’ In field of science, though the advocates put forth the optimistic note that ‘Chaos is a precursor to innovation’, their counterparts caution that ‘chaos forces assumptions that kill.’ Interestingly, either of them do contribute to serious human deliberations seeking pathways to navigate from chaos to comfort, though the canvas of the belief systems accommodate chaos as unavoidable in the exuberance of the cosmic dance. ?“In all chaos there is a cosmos, in all disorder a secret order” says Carl Jung. The inability of the human perspectives to understand and appreciate the innate implications of the above, forces to consider the views of Henry Adams who says “Chaos is the law of Nature; Order is the dream of the Man.”

The Second law of Thermodynamics states that “the total entropy of a system either increases or remains constant during a spontaneous process, but it never decreases.” The entropy, being a measure of the disorder of the system and as that reflects the spontaneity of a process, does show that a chaotic system essentially is a spontaneous system. It showcases the mobility towards a higher disorder. Further, it demonstrates a higher energy. Thus, any management of chaos is directly linked to managing disorder and managing higher energy.

At the micro level, in a professional environment, chaos management is possibly a dire requirement both to sustenance and growth. At a personal level people who face chaos in their normal course of life tend to get into depression, self-pity, low self-esteem and sometimes to serious psychological challenges leading to ending their own lives. Mentors help them to navigate through this challenge through counselling and helping them understand the hard realities of life. At the leadership level, the success of a good and effective leadership is characterised by its ability to navigate from chaos to comfort through organized effort. The journey is desirable, but not easy; neither is it difficult. The leader needs to navigate the system like a captain navigating a ship through tumultuous waters. Though the rough weather makes the journey arduous, though the waves in the sea tend to topple the steadiness of the ship, though the crosswinds try to change the course of the direction the ship, the ship battles and moves ahead to safety and areas of comfort. Any journey from chaos to comfort has many common and similar experiences.

This raises the question – what kind of skills do we need to navigate safely from chaos to comfort?

Comfort is not a state of rest or inertia. It must be understood that comfort is also essentially a dynamic thought of a mindset. Comfort is a desirable myth that positions itself depending on the time, space and the context. It stretches its longitude and latitude as one approaches its mythical destination. Says Kahlil Gibran “The lust for comfort, that stealthy thing that enters the house a guest, and then becomes a host, and then a master”. Questions have been raised whether the state of comfort is a death-knell to creativity and innovation? Does the acceptance of comfort a declaration of human incompetence? Viewing anything outside the comfort zone standing within its own circumference creates a sense of fear, anxiety, nervousness and insecurity to the viewer. However, as Robin Sharma points out “As you move outside of your comfort zone, what was once the unknown and frightening becomes your new normal.” It is an exercise in unravelling the yet unknown potentials of one’s own self, masked by the shadow self.

How do we manage this journey through safe navigation? Here are a few tips to consider:

1.?????? Never Press a Panic Button

There is a natural tendency to press a panic button when one foresees a cloud of uncertainty even outlining the universe of chaos. The urge to press the panic button acts as a safety valve to protect one’s own inability to understand and face the realities; and it showcases a ghost that doesn’t exist. The threat of the unseen creates a suffering which is often born out of self-pity. As such panic is a negative and destructive force that annihilates things which are even safe and sound. Professionals need to learn the lessons and gain the competencies on panic management.

2.?????? Understand the universe of operation

Often the inadequacy of knowledge or poor understanding of the universe of operation becomes one of the causes for driving uncertainty and trigger chaos. Says Tom Peters “The roots of their tumultuous state can be diverse, ranging from legitimate psychological or personality disorders to a disconnection from self and feeling overwhelmed by the complexities of life. It’s likely that a chaotic person doesn’t understand their shadow self which manifests as self-sabotage. This internal turmoil results in erratic thoughts and actions, contributing to an overall sense of chaos.” It is important for every professional to have a thorough knowledge and understanding of the universe of operation so that they can handle chaos with courage and conviction, and not celebrate it as a compelling force.

3.?????? Listing the factors that fuels chaos

There is every possibility that the impact of the chaos in its native form may be very limited. But there are several forces that take advantage of the chaos because they find a place and an opportunity to be a part of it. Therefore, professionals need to know that they should not celebrate chaos beyond a measure lest many non-performing and under trial forces might seek an opportunity to relive their past. The professionals should identify and list several of the tributaries to the canvas of chaos and try to eliminate them. If the tributaries to the chaos are not blocked, they would continue to fuel the chaos, not because they derive benefit of it, but it helps them to be act as a shadow cabinet in influencing the order.

4.?????? Identifying the epicentre of the chaos.

Chaos comes with several faces. It can come as a tornado, as a cyclone or a tsunami. But in each of them, there is an epicentre which either demonstrates the anger or the violence within. In the violent dynamics of the chaos, many small, steady and soft systems get subsumed. Chaos tends to uproot even the well-intended individuals and systems. It is important to observe and keep an eye on the dynamics of the chaos so that the leadership could take adequate safety precautions to restrain or minimise its influence. Preparing shelters for the weak to stay protected is important. The knowledge of the epicentre of the chaos helps in navigating the system with confidence and conviction.

?5.?????? ELIMINATING THE CATALYSTS

?A chaotic system is not only a dynamic system, but it is inherently random. Such movements do result in unprecedented collisions between various ingredients and components in the system. Neither such collisions are usually unpredictable nor its resultant impacts. They infuse more energy into the system, sometimes positive and sometimes negative, resulting in enhancing the chaos. It is therefore important to ensure that there are no catalysts to chaos in any system. A good leader identifies and eliminates such catalysts so that the reversal from chaos to order becomes easy and the roadblocks to such a journey are removed. Reversing the direction of the course of events is critical so that the resistance levels are reduced. The competence of a professional lies in managing these catalysts inside the organization.

?6.?????? Building the Team

?The battle against any chaos is multi-directional. Therefore, any attempt of a leader as an individual to handle it involves huge time and energy; and sometimes may lead to frustrating experiences. An effective leader would do well by building a team to engage with the chaos so that the team is able to handle multidirectional challenges in managing and reversing the chaos. “Chaos theory asserts that even the tiniest change in conditions can have enormous consequences on future events. By adopting a leadership attitude of flexibility, open mindedness and resilience – and always keeping an eye on the bigger picture - we can harness the infinite power of the little and make a real impact” says Tom Peters.

?7.?????? Developing a shared vision

?The process of navigating from the chaos to comfort calls for a clarity of vision. Unless the goal, the objective and the destination are defined, it would be difficult to bring the randomness to some kind of common order. Towards this end, every member of the team who navigates in the troubled waters should be able to see the light house on the shore. It helps in following the direction of the compass. The compass helps in developing the shared vision. The leader should act like a compass. The resilient team should work together towards a shared goal, a shared objective and hence need to move as a single unit. The team should understand that there are no AND and NOT gateways to this journey. They need to play together than playing simultaneously.

?8.?????? Facilitating Learning

The undefined multidirectional movement of a chaotic system often puts the defenders in confusion, the reason being the unpredictability of its core dynamics. Therefore, the team that engages with chaos, would have to learn and position itself differently from time to time. Every such act would be a learning experience. The cumulative learning experiences of the team would be a great asset and help in minimizing the energy and time in such endeavours. Further, these learning experiences add value to the management of future challenges arising out of the fall outs of the chaos.

?“Chaos is inherent in all compounded things. Strive on with diligence” says Buddha. It is indeed true, and leaders need to navigate the mobility from chaos to comfort with diligence. The core of such process would result in empowered self-awareness and ensuring greater self-esteem. The individual as well as the teams engaged in such navigations will emerge as powerful humans, competent to stay still. They will learn the way to be a mute witness to the dynamics of situations outside the self with greater inner strength and peace. Says Deepak Chopra “In the midst of movement and chaos, keep stillness inside of you”. The advent of comfort is the attainment of stillness, what our ancient scripture used to call “Sthitha Pragna” – one who resides in one’s own consciousness.