The Underlying
Order of Chaos—Bounded Instability
No matter how chaotic work
experience becomes, it is most often the case that the members of a work group
do not suddenly flee the work group or abandon their jobs when worklife becomes
chaotic. At least intuitively the most chaotic of workplace experiences is
understood to possess an organizing principle that holds things together; that
bounds the instability. For example, one arena where chaos is often spoken of is
in a combat situation. One’s awareness is filled with thousands of rounds of
small arms fire in all directions, small and large explosions, wounded and dead,
smoke and dust, confused communications, gaps in the chain of command and
perhaps above all paralyzing fear. Nonetheless the soldiers forge ahead to take
the beachhead or mountaintop or regroup to create a defensive parameter in a
firefight. These are extreme examples that have less life-threatening
organizational counterparts. Individual, group and organizational survival can,
however, also be felt to be at stake regarding maintaining one’s employment and
keeping the organization competitive. The point to be made here is that
regardless of how chaotic and out of control workplace experience may seem, at
some level there is an underlying structure that holds things together
regardless of whether the organizational battlefield is filled with bullets or
the aggressive actions of others and competitors.
Dynamic workplace theory represents one way of thinking about
this larger underlying framework. In this regard all bureaucratic hierarchical
structure is not entirely or permanently lost and one or more charismatic
individuals may be able to provide leadership under the worst of conditions.
Group members may easily have their attention directed to these other types of
workplace experience if the distressing experience of anxiety contained within
the chaotic experience is sufficient to encourage group members to feel that
almost anything is better than how things are. This self, other, group and
organizational experience or sentience lays the foundation for a readiness to
change and the emergence of one or more leaders who offer hope and new
direction, which is further discussed in chapter 4. Chaotic experience and the
readiness to accept change also contain important underlying psychodynamics that
provide additional insight.
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