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Darkness and Chaos
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seen as a transitory one rather than a long-term partnership. This
dramatically affected executives, managers, and employees emotionally,
psychologically, and socially—causing even the most confident
people to feel that they had lost control of their lives.
Are We There Yet?
The rate of technological change has been rapid since the turn of the
twentieth century and is growing exponentially every minute. You
need only consider how outdated your new computer is barely one
month after you take it out of the box. Or the fact that the length of
time between the Wright brothers’ lifting off at Kitty Hawk and Neil
Armstrong’s first step onto the moon was only sixty-six years—barely
one lifetime! When business or industry upheaval overtakes the organization’s
ability to respond effectively, a state of chaos is created.
Few of us are ready to handle chaotic change effectively, and evolution
has not been very helpful, moving at its own slow pace. When
thrust into chaotically changing situations, we experience intense
feelings of frustration, stress, loss of control, and anxiety.
Now imagine that rapid change becomes the rule rather than the
exception. Yesterday’s change is changing today, and will change
again tomorrow; there is seemingly no light at the end of the tunnel.
Companies that once focused on determining the ideal vision of the
“future” organization (and planning the necessary steps to get there)
now find themselves in a constant state of transitioning. Furthermore,
not everything changes at the same rate, and interrelated elements
become unglued, adding confusion to an already unstable time. Organizations
in a constant state of transitioning are characterized by
unclear, outdated, unenforceable, or nonexistent work rules and policies;
inconsistent risk taking; greater tolerance for controversial, perhaps
even abusive, behaviors; and antiquated measurement systems
and communication networks. At best, the ideal future states of
these organizations are fuzzy.