Can Your Vision Thrive in Chaos?

One spring afternoon, I heard the security officer yelling down the hallway for a few seventh graders to go to class. None of the students had been given passes. Teachers were at each other's throats. And only two out of 30+ classes walked in straight lines!

It. Was. Rough.

I was new to the Baltimore-Washington region at that time. And when I told some of my friends where I worked, they looked at me like they had seen a ghost. When I asked them, “what’s wrong?” they would always respond saying, “you know that’s the worst school in the County, right?!”

The opening scene was just a snapshot of my first full-time position working for a K-8 public school in central Maryland. When I was hired, the school was in complete chaos due to a mismanaged transformational change effort. That's not all. A change in leadership, withdrawal from a nationally-recognized academic program, and a school-wide Title I program kickoff made for a pretty tense work environment.

Okay, it was downright toxic.

(Looking back, I realize the school was experiencing many of the same pressures organizations face today: employee turnover, resource constraints, and change fatigue.)

Thankfully, my direct supervisor was the primary change agent at the school, and our team was in charge of rolling out the new program. That’s when I learned what “emergent vision” looks like.

Did you know that vision can emerge when you’re surrounded by complete chaos?

Here’s why.

Most people don't do well in environments marked by uncertainty, instability, and constant disruption. When you're caught up in this type of whirlwind, chances are you're surrounded with more images of what you don’t want your future to look like, than the future you actually prefer. This type of cognitive dissonance forces you to make a decision.

• Either you can give into the conditions of the culture that surround you

  
  

  OR

  
  

• You can treat the whirlwind of chaos as an example of what you don't want, and use the process of elimination to affirm what you do want in life.

Most folks will run amok without the hope of a better future. One proverb says, “where there is no vision, people cast off restraint.” Or at best, they will keep doing what they’re doing until it doesn’t work anymore.

But when you can sense a better future, you do things differently.

When I was at this crossroads, I did three things quite unintentionally. Years later, I realize I was developing three practices that helped me to clarify my personal vision in the midst of a dysfunctional workplace.

So how can you clarify your vision in the midst of a chaotic situation? I'm glad you asked!

It helps to do three things:

1. Change your perspective. Patterns emerge even in chaos. In my former workplace, I had to scour the entire building looking for people who thought like I thought. Those who went against the grain. Those who could improvise on the spot like a jazz musician, and not skip a beat. Here's an example. One of my colleagues taught second grade at the time. Without adequate funding, our school could not afford textbooks. So we had to improvise. She taught me how to teach without textbooks by prompting the students to make "text-to-world" connections. I still remember her teaching a math lesson and telling the children, "Look around the room. Can you find any lines of symmetry?" The lightbulbs immediately came on and the kids were excited to share their newfound lines of symmetry. What does this have to do with organizations? In unstable environments, the ability to recognize healthy patterns becomes more valuable than controlling outcomes.

2. Affirm your values. During this time in my work-life, I learned to vent. Everyday after work, I went home and out processed the junk through talking and journaling. Little did I realize, my journals contained an argument. While writing about the situation, I was unknowingly arguing my case against it. Every statement affirmed that workplace was not a fit for me or for my future. This evolving argument contained my personal values. It told of the principles that are important to me like integrity, professionalism, and respect. I began to make changes and seek a workplace that also held these values.

3. Take opposite action. Soon, I started making decisions to go against the culture at the school. Because I did not want the culture to affect me, I made a decision to affect it. One morning during breakfast, I saw a 3rd grade student named Javonte laughing to himself...I mean, he was really laughing. When I asked if he was alright, Javonte started pointing at a man who was wearing traditional Indian attire and said “he’s wearing a dress!” After sizing up the situation, I realized Javonte had never been in close quarters with someone from another culture or even another country. So mustered what little knowledge I had of Indian culture and explained, “in his culture, what he has on now is like the clothes you would wear to church...like a suit and tie.” Javonte immediately stopped laughing, dropped his head a little, and continued eating his breakfast. At that point, Javonte’s vision—or his perspective—was enlarged. He could see things differently. His vision included cultural differences.

Sometimes vision doesn't emerge from chaos. It emerges because chaos reveals what matters most.

Visionary Leadership: A Guidebook for 21st Century Organizations and Entrepreneurial Teams introduces the Vision360 Leadership model—a framework crafted to help leaders and teams transform vision into reality. At Teaiiano Leadership Solutions, we integrate these principles into every aspect of our coaching, consulting, and leadership development to empower you to anticipate change, innovate with confidence, and achieve lasting success. You can purchase your copy of the book here to dive deeper into these transformative strategies, or explore more insights and resources at our home base: www.teaiiano.com.