The chaos game was very
surprising, to say the least. Initially when I thought about it as the
facilitator was explaining the instructions I couldn’t have imagined that the
team would have been able to do it any faster than 5 minutes. The instructions
were simple, but given the variables and how many people there were, it seemed
impossible to do in the first place, much less in under a minute.
What this means to me and the
impact that it has on my understanding of the chaos theory is that if teams are
given clear instructions and parameters to work within, the outcome of their work
may be quite surprising. However, I can relate to this chaos game and the results
of it, as the manager that I have now leads using a very simple approach:
educates, sets clear expectations, and holds people accountable. The educating
and setting clear expectations part of his leadership approach is very similar to
the facilitator giving the instructions to the members of his team and setting the
parameters by which the game will be played. What makes this even more
interesting is that my peers are given instructions and expectations, just as I
am, but we are all driving business metrics and focus areas while working with
one another and staying consistent with how we lead our teams. Much like the
players in the chaos game have to adjust when their focus areas adjust, we also
have to do the same with the multitude of variables in the workplace. The funny
thing is we manage to work on our own, meet the goals, and do it in a timely
manner without someone taking the role as the lead.
The implications that this game
has on strategy is that is forces leaders to take a different approach with the
way that we lead our teams, especially in today’s workplace where the dynamics
are much different than they were just a decade ago. It also means that
strategy on the lower levels of organization has been proven to be successful,
and if left to figure something out, employees will tailor the strategy that
they have based on the parameters and instructions given to them from their leadership.
I am positive that not everyone in the game had the same strategy in mind when
starting, and some of them took a different approach to ensure that they met
the goals while following the parameters and instructions. I think that is why
organizations are performing at a higher level now, because leaders are acting
more as coaches and facilitators, rather than micro managing every little
process and move made by an employee. The authoritative and direct approach to
leadership is still present in today’s workplace, but the more cross-functional
and flat organizations are slowly taking over.
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