Months before U.S. Army General Martin Dempsey became the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he approached business consultant Ori Brafman. The General wanted to know how the army could anticipate what the country’s next enemy might look like. To Dempsey’s surprise Brafman told him that, in order to figure that out, the General had to create more chaos in the army!
Brafman’s point was that the army, like most organizations, has no system that allows unusual ideas to flow in order to encourage innovation. He said the army was like the medieval Church, “a massive bureaucracy with a powerful, entrenched, values-driven culture and a clear sense of purpose.” The danger is that these kinds of organizations become too structured, and no new ideas can grow.
Brafman, along with co-author Judah Pollack, outlines this theory in his lively and readable book, “The Chaos Imperative: How Chance and Disruption Increase Innovation, Effectiveness, and Success.”Drawing on examples from medieval history, neuroscience and the video game industry, he asks “How can an organization encourage innovative ideas and allow them to move through the system?”
Brafman offers three suggestions for creating “little pockets of chaos” within a larger organization: create white space, embrace unusual suspects and organize serendipity.
We usually look for leaders who know how to organize their time down to the minute, but we “pay a hefty price for optimization,” Brafman says.
When we disengage -- take a walk, step away from our desks -- a part of our brain is able to make innovative connections. Organizations, like our brains, need white space in order to think creatively. Brafman describes one company that gave all employees one month in the office with pay, to do nothing. They had to come to work, but enjoyed the white space to think freely. A less radical option is what he calls “micro white space.” Ask a question in a meeting and encourage people to think for 60 seconds before answering.
A second key element for the chaos imperative is to bring in unusual suspects -- people who don’t seem to belong in the field of your organization, but who bring new perspectives or new metaphors to the table. Brafman himself was an unusual suspect for the U.S. Army conversations. He warns that “unusual” doesn’t mean impossibly disruptive or crazy, but someone who gets along with the group.
Third, Brafman urges leaders to plan or organize serendipity. He advised General Dempsey to engage as many parts of the army as possible, listening to people and empowering them to find a solution. Gather cross sections of employees who don’t normally interact, and provide white space for conversation, he says. Brafman cites a system the Dutch government calls Deelstoel or “share chair.” Each government office sets aside a portion of its building for use by another government organization, which reserves the space through an online system. Some people use the space because it is more convenient to their homes, and others use it to get a fresh perspective on their own work. But the system benefits the government by encouraging exposure and conversation between people who wouldn’t ordinarily meet.
Brafman is a master of lively examples of the chaos imperative: Einstein, who hiked and frequented coffee houses rather than attending classes, could only have conceived of relativity outside of academia. The Black Plague of medieval times made white space for the thinkers and advances of the Renaissance.
Donning Brafman’s cap, could Christian leaders think of the chaos imperative as the Holy Spirit at work? How do we organize little pockets of chaos, so that the Holy Spirit may come upon us, in our work and in our institutions?
