Everything we as leaders do, say, and act upon has consequences that are measurable in short, immediate and long terms and interwoven into the complexities of the organization. An order to chaos is the butterfly effect, where a poor butterfly in brazil could cause a tornado in Texas (Lorenz, 1972). Edward Lorenz wrote this theory in order to better study meteorological events however it is used across the fields today. Leaders are both the butterfly and the tornado. We remember the leaders that led greatly, but we also remember the leaders that led poorly, we are distilled with the fingerprints of our leaders. We adapt to repeated qualities and adopt dependable qualities or as Johnson writes "coded". We focus on extremes and strip away the details. I cannot tell you what my first supervisor in the military looked liked or even remember his last name. I can tell you how he treated me and what I learned from him and then reflected on my own troops years later (and one supposes that the pattern continues and continues). Small changes impacts peoples/organizations futures, "yield large results (Oboloensky, 2016)." Changing the simple initial conditions can have huge effects on the results (Lorenz, 2017). This simple yet chaotic effect is absolutely true in leadership/follower-ship. The impacts that a leader has on followers will provide dividends and dividends both positive and negative.
The military is a great example of the butterfly effect. It demonstrates how a simple legacy adapts and the experimental leadership model continues everyday and every day we are influence by those before and those after us. Leaders in the military are hyper focused at first then broaden their views eventually (well hopefully). A leader, especially one in a power position, will influence the culture of the unit. The leaders set the tone, this reflects from the lowest to the highest rank and has profound affects on the morale of the institution. For example, a few units ago, my morale was tanking, my pride, purpose and motivation lacked every day, it soon poured over to my home life. I eventually started to need to go get counseling. Then one day, while in a large meeting, my Group Commander came into the room and announced that she had relieve my Squadron Commander of his job. Just like that my mood, personality and alcohol dependencies diminished. She later briefed us that the culture of the unit was eroding the ability to accomplish the mission. The Squadron Commander and his attitude decimated the morale of everyone. I still remember this day but I cannot remember all the details, the point is that his leadership impacts me even today. Years later at my first command assignment I walked in expecting to find a well oiled machine that had been around since 1917 but instead I found something different. I found a single cancer that impacted everyone around her. She was setting such a negative tone that folks around her started to need further help. And just like that I had witness how leadership still affected me. I immediately fired her, improving the impoverished.
Another example of leadership in chaotic motion is in my current command assignment. I see folks wandering the halls, establishing social tribes, and living autonomously to their assignments. During my earlier years I had seen this before, when I had the enormous task of establishing a new weapon system and the associated unit. I recruited some of the best minds in the business, handpicking them, each with a unique skillset, each interwoven into the makeup of the initial cadre. Right off the bat, I put everyone in the same room, knocked down two feet of extra walls, removed all the doors and centralized the social table. I needed them to focus on each other and their skills. I removed all tribal barriers and social distastes. We went from a cadre of ten to a squadron of 200 in a matter of two years following this same model. Fast forward back to my current command, I see the tribes, I feel the misunderstanding and the misappropriation of personnel. Folks are dragging and not communicating; reducing our mission effectiveness. (Apply butterfly effect). I need to make considerable changes in the culture of the organism to ensure that we are all moving to the same beat, removal physical barriers that hinder cross-communication and restore pride purpose and motivation to a struggling organization. Remembering the lessons of the past to reflect on the culture of tomorrow.
In conclusion, the butterfly effect is a theory that proposes that small changes yield giant results. This axiom remains unchanged since it was created. We apply it in computers, business models and leadership. It is the never ending bow waves of leadership that impact the everyday lives of both the individual and the organism. Leadership can profoundly impact peoples lives, morale and welfare, it can shape an attitude and in my business get people killed. Leadership is evolving yet I remember how now almost two decades ago, my first leaders yelled at me to buckle my belt. The military is a great leadership experiment that in my opinion continues to practice the butterfly effect as the ripples of yesterday are felt today and will continue to tomorrow. The lessons that I learned so long ago are just as empowering today as they will be tomorrow.
References
Johnson, B., Lorenz, E., & Lundwell, B. (2002). Why all this fuss about codified and tacit knowledge?. Industrial & Corporate Change, 11(2), 245-262.
Lorenz, Edward Norton. (2017). In P. Lagasse, & Columbia University, The Columbia encyclopedia (7th ed.). New York, NY: Columbia University Press. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/columency/lorenz_edward_norton/0?institutionId=951
Obolensky N. (2016) Complex adaptive Leadership; Embracing Paradox and Uncertainty. Routledge Tylor & Francis Group, London and New York
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