We teach our students strategy frameworks and buyer decision making as linear processes, fit for the perfect world. Well, we really don’t live in a perfect world, and linear thinking is myopic at best.
We live in a chaotic world where a crazy man shoots innocent people in Washington and brings a city to a halt. Where innocent children are victims of biological warfare in Syria. Where unexpected news from a doctor can rearrange your life like you had never imagined. We seek perfect actions and perfect information for an imperfect world.
In all this chaos, we get stumped on how to proceed. The ability to react quickly and adapt seamlessly become trademarks of managing change. How does one sort through the chaos that is now a hallmark of our times? I think organizations, and people for that matter, that are nimble and lean adapt to this chaos, faster, better, and more efficiently.
When I was younger, I never worried about the chaos, or its implications. Now that I am older the chaos is more unnerving and, when it affects you, certainly more difficult to manage. The more we have to lose, the scarier the ride.
About Hemant Rustogi