Though chaos has been variously defined, all definitions point at one commonality — the disorderly state of things. But we need to understand that there is order in this chaos. Rather, chaos is the natural state of things. Chaos is the order. The same can be said of organisations and societies. Disorderliness is the order there also.
Hence those looking for perfect symmetry are mistaking woods for trees. In this context, history too can be interpreted to be largely as a continuum, a sequel of the past, changing may be in texture but not in essence.
We are firmly entrenched into the 21st century and organisational psychologists and management theorists have been talking about the new leadership paradigm that is called for to lead countries and societies in the present century. But let us pause and reflect: is there the need for a new paradigm when the new order carries much of the elements of the older one.
The opening paragraph of A Tale of Two Cities may throw some light on this issue and is worth recollecting to understand the present century. “It was the best of the times, it was the worst of the times, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us.…”. These words may well describe the contemporary scenario if we replace ‘was’ by ‘is’ in all places in the quote.
The implication is simple. Over the centuries things have not really changed much. The present times are not too different from the past. That doesn’t mean that things have remained static. The analogy of the flowing river can help understand this. It keeps on flowing, moving and changing.
And yet it remains the same. That is the essence of Buddha’s teaching — ‘everything changes, and everything returns, like the river’. So does history. The basic nature doesn’t change, though the course of events may appear to be different. Yes, things have changed and changed considerably. But only the things. The technology has changed.
lifestyles have changed. Ways of doing things have changed. What, however, has not changed is the human nature, remaining fairly stable over the ages. The emotional profile, the attitudinal disposition, the perceptual frame — they all have retained their basic character, good or bad.
More importantly, the individual uniqueness of these psychological processes that are the basic drivers of human behaviour continues to remain an enigma. Our only insight into them is through our own inferences drawn from our own interpretations based on our own perceptions.
This fact is again very aptly brought out by the prophetic words of Charles Dickens from the same book written some two centuries ago, and are worth recapitulating: ‘a wonderful fact to reflect upon, that every human creative is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other’.
leaders must always contend with chaos and be content with the fact that chaos is the order. leaders have only limited influence in giving direction to this chaos. Democracies are perfect examples of this orderliness in chaos. The results of Delhi elections have to be seen in this light. In democracies, the governments are not stable. Only the system is stable. Hats off to Indian democracy.
The writer teaches management at Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad (Jharkhand). He can be reached at ppathak.ism@gmail.com