ADVERTORIAL FEATURE Baillie G
Why companies should embrace chaos
The stereotype of a successful chief executive is a domineering figure who makes all the big decisions and demands staff execute them in a prescribed way . But in the early 1990s , Dee Hock , the founder of the Visa credit card association , warned that tyrannical , command-and-control leadership was more likely to strangle good ideas than give them air . Hock urged forward-thinking bosses to make their organisations
‘ chaotically-ordered ’ or , in the word he coined , ‘ chaordic ’. Aged 92 , he continues to blog on the topic . “ In chaordic organisations , the job of leaders is to inspire people by creating a compelling sense of mission and purpose ,” says Gary Robinson , who came across Hock ’ s writings while researching the payments industry . This involves setting broad principles and getting people to buy in to them . But afterwards they need to “ get out of the way and give people the autonomy ” in order to innovate , Robinson adds . “ By chaos , what [ Hock ] means is really a willingness of leaders to let go and allow individuals the freedom to experiment and to make things happen .” The Industrial Age favoured autocratic , hierarchical institutions . But more than 200 years later , the same model does not suit an increasingly global , complex and diverse world in which technological innovations are driving rapid change . Hock himself warned that a temptation to rule by diktat could lead to disaster . “ Simple , clear purpose and principles give rise to complex and intelligent behaviour ,” Hock once said .
/ 20 /