Some guy felt like eating bat for lunch, and now I am out of a job

This is what, in chaos theory, we call the “butterfly effect”. Put simply, the butterfly effect is when, depending on the initial conditions, a small change in one state can result in large differences in a later state. A small change like a butterfly flapping its wings can cause huge change. And that is just what has happened to us. The black swan theory, or the theory of black swan events, as defined by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, refers to an unexpected, large-scale event that has major consequences, and ends up playing a significant part in history. And that is just what has happened to us.

COVID-19 has happened, a clear example of both of the concepts outlined above. Both the butterfly and the swan have come. And it is a hugely traumatic event for all of us. Trauma can impact organizations just the same as it affects individuals, families, and communities. And just as a lack of communication and understanding harms individuals, so to can it also damage organizations. If we consider trauma from the organizational perspective, it will help us survive in hard times, because we will be able to bear the knowledge of our strengths, resources and predictable patterns in order to evaluate and devise an adequate plan of action.

Crisis, or organizational trauma, is part and parcel of our lives, an integral aspect of the operation of a business and of entire national economies. Periodically, crises can even assume a global scale, like a pandemic. An additional problem, perhaps the most significant, is the increased rate at which crisis situations arise, as a consequence of the increased pace of life as a whole. This makes management in crisis situations an important response to this aspect of our reality.

In addition to going through the natural lifecycle (Adizes I, Corporate Lifecycles), organizations often face a variety of environmental issues and problems in their own functioning, thus experiencing events that we can describe as traumatic. If an organization is well-integrated, both internally and in its environment, then we can expect it to get through crises caused by such events easily and quickly. Crises are perturbations that bring anxiety, insecurity, and also opportunities. Trauma weakens the organization, temporarily or long-term.

Events that might be part of the normal lifecycle for one organization can be traumatic for another. It all depends on how many layers of protection or shields we have for our organization. These shields or forms of protection are:

• ·   our organizational culture
• ·   a well-established structure and
• ·   adequate management processes.

As we create organizations, we shape a unique culture and habits. Organizational culture consists of our stated values, the organizational climate, and the attitudes and styles of key people. All organizations form their own habits, and habits powerfully affect organizational culture. If we do not intentionally create good habits, bad habits will form naturally. Simply put, our culture will have a huge impact on our decisions at traumatic times – eg, on how we will react to a crisis. A positive organizational culture is one of our greatest strengths in times such as these, and indeed, at any time.

Next, our strengths lie in good structural solutions, clear responsibilities and authorizations, and internal and external rewards. Likewise, in very simple terms, the better we are organized, the more people take care of their organizational units and are dedicated to them, the stronger we are, and the easier we will overcome the trauma. And finally, good management processes offer the possibility of good analysis, reaction, and the introduction of appropriate changes. If all this is lacking, then the organization will, to a greater or lesser extent, be exposed to the impact of the trauma or crisis.

Of course, the industry to which the organization belongs also needs to be taken into account because trauma affects the efficacy of an organization differently in different sectors. Nevertheless, we can generalize by saying that we reap what we sow. Onslaughts will come, new methods will need to be found, but the stronger our “shields” are the easier we will get through the cycle of organizational trauma, as described in the next part of the article.

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