I have recently been working in collaboration with Helen TitchenBeeth to revise the Art of Hosting workbook (what I prefer to think of as a companion guide) in preparation for an upcoming training. This has given me the opportunity to revisit some of the basic models within Art of Hosting and to express them in my own words and through the lens of my experience with them. What a gift this has been as it has allowed me to step deeper into the powerful mental models and to recognize the meaningful place that they have in my life. The ideas are not original; they are the product of many sources including listening to many more experienced practitioners explain them. So, what I am offering here is just my perspective on some deep teachings.
The Chaordic Path
The dance of chaos and order in nature
The history of the universe is a story of order emerging from chaos – from the big bang, to stars producing new elements, to the formation of planets. Here on Earth, we can see this process happening as a forest ecosystem matures through stages following a fire. Our individual lives, organisations and communities are all microcosms of this same process.
Chaos is the natural fertile ground of creativity. The diversity and messiness of chaos provides the ingredients for emergence of order. This is where life innovates, where things are not hard-wired, but are flexible enough for new connections and solutions to occur. Within chaos, there is no clarity, no roadmap or instruction manual and, consequently, this is often an uncomfortable place for many people and organisations. There is often a tendency to try and force resolution to chaotic situations in an effort to return to the more familiar and comfortable realm of order. Unfortunately, forced order usually does not take the needs and interests of all participants of the system into account and this results in a pseudo-order which is neither stable nor sustainable. Given time and communication, the natural order which wants to emerge will fit the needs of the system and its participants.
Order is the preferred state of mature living systems. It provides a sense of predictability and allows for collaboration and coordination of efforts. Things are easier and less energy is required in an orderly system. Given the desirability of order, it is a natural human tendency to try and create and preserve order through methods of control. Living systems have feedback systems that naturally maintain order or homeostasis. When the population of rabbits exceeds the limits of the ecosystem, more predators will show up and the rabbit population will decline. If it declines too far, the population of predators will be reduced. In healthy human systems there are also feedback loops that help to maintain homeostasis or the status quo.
When excessive change occurs within a system – think a devastating fire in an old growth forest or a drastic cut in funding to an organisation – chaos usually results. This chaos is necessary for a system to adapt and change and it will result in a new order and new homeostasis. The cycle of chaos to order to chaos to order is the natural way of systems.
Chaos and order in human systems
Within human systems, order is maintained by conventions and agreements and just because the orderly processes work for those involved, no top-down control is necessary. When these systems no longer work, chaos results out of which a new order will emerge. Sometimes within human systems, however, it is necessary to maintain strict conformity with the order once it has been established. For instance it is essential to follow established practices for landing an aircraft or performing routine surgery. In these cases, systems of control are important and can take the form of standard operating procedures, laws, licensure – all of which typically require top-down monitoring and enforcement. One of the big challenges in modern organisations and societies is to discern where control is needed and where to trust the natural process of order emerging from chaos. Within organisations, this wise application of just enough control is the work performed by conscious managers.
Control is an essential function of all mechanistic systems (the obvious or complicated domains of the Cynefin framework presented in the next section). Machines need to behave in standard and predictable ways and mechanical systems are incapable of creating order out of chaos. When conditions change in a mechanistic system, the system needs to be adjusted and new controls implemented. However, the world and times we live in are neither predictable nor stable and more and more of our systems are complex, calling for more flexibility, since “more-of-the-same solutions” will not meet the challenges.
The chaordic path
The Chaordic Path is a model based on this recognition of order emerging naturally from chaos. The model proposes three basic conditions: chaos, order and control. The transition between chaos and order, that place of emergence and innovation, is referred to as the ‘chaordic path’.
Hosting is the process of walking this chaordic path, holding space and processes to allow emergence and innovation to happen. Walking this chaordic path requires ‘chaordic confidence’, the courage and practices to stay in the dance of order and chaos long enough to support a generative emergence that allows the new, collective intelligence and wise action to occur. As we tread the line between chaos and order, individually and collectively, we move through confusion and conflict toward clarity. It is in the phase of not knowing, before we reach new clarity, that the temptation to rush for certainty or grab for control is strongest. We are called to walk this path with open minds and some confidence if we want to reach something wholly new.
The art is to stay in a fine balance between chaos and order. Straying too far to either side is counterproductive. On the far side of chaos is ‘chamos’ or destructive chaos where everything disintegrates and dies. On the far side of order is stifling control—where all absence of movement also eventually means death. When we move toward either of these extremes, the result is either apathy or rebellion—the very opposite of chaordic confidence. Staying on the chaordic path is where the balance is and where life thrives.
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