Chaos theory in leadership is a result from a mathematic equation applied to a complex process. Chaos theory can be applied to anything and any field. This theory broken down to its lowest form is basically a non-linear, unpredictable set of occurrences that if viewed from the random seem unrelated when observed from the whole are interconnected and interwoven (Singh, H., & Singh, A., 2002). For example, the universe or the big bang, of even the way coffee looks in a cup. Chaos theory in the information and digital age creates a place every-more "chaotic" then the all other models. Traditional hierarchal and patriarchal leadership models no longer describe what the environment of society looks or acts like (Ates, 2015). The application of chaotic methods comes close to describing modern markets and how everything from the producer to the consumer is connected, even the smallest of changes in the markets can have ripple affects throughout the globe.
A simplified drill of chaos in motion with the application of adaptable leadership is to gather 50 people or so in a large room and ask them to equally separate from 2 other people equally spaced. While this seems relatively impossible, eventually an adaptive leader, evolves. Most of the populace will scoff at this experiment and its complexity but somehow with a few minutes the puzzle is solve (Obolensky, N., 2016). If at the end, we were to look down from the ceiling to the heads of the individuals we would see nodal crossings and interconnected webs fabrics, while the individual might only see those next to him. Next try drawing an intersect lines from each of the participates heads. We would find a very complex organism with interconnections and no single origin, this is chaos, it has patterens, shapes yet are only observed as a whole. It is this experiment that shows how confusing chaos can be (initially) yet it also demonstrates how adaptive the theory can be when a leader lead through the experiment.
An subset of chaos is the butterfly affect which goes something like if a butterfly flapping its wings in Argentina causes a tornado in Kansas. While this is far fetch, chaos mathematics allows this to happen, it is what shapes strategies or national policies, from the highest forms of government to the connected foundational enlisted. Chaos in leadership is just as complex in the miltiary and requires that leaders and followers adapt to the environment that is always changing around them. Take for example a stupid prison guard snapping a picture in a far prison, this same picture and the actions of a few change the face of global policies and treatment of non-combatants. It directly attributes to an upheaval in local violence and is debated in the halls of the United Nations (Bakir, 2017). This picture changes the way that American forces react, it changes the ideas of the war, with a simple jpeg. My entire idea of chaotic strategy changed.
A good leader adapts to the complex chaos instead of trying to exert authority or situational leadership over it. Peter Northhouse describes this as Adaptive Leadership, he defines this type of leadership as follower centered. He emphasizes how followers can solve problems in their own nodes. It is best suited for chaos because it requires followers to respond to the environment rather than being instructed how in a linear way. Illustrating the same experiment as earlier applied to a massive Fortune 500 company like Apple or Wal-Mart. That same 50 people becomes thousands spread throughout the world. The price of lithium in China is interconnected to the American consumer battery repair, the system adapts to this change and chaos flourishes. Chaos theory is complex, but it is not complicated. It is up to the adaptive leader to learn how to navigate through the unknown. I use chaos theory everyday sometimes without knowing or without understanding. Chaos theory is an outstanding view of how the National Space Defense Center operates everyday.
References
Ateş H. (2015) Managing Successful Projects to Prevent Chaos and Complexity in Organizations. In: Erçetin Ş., Banerjee S. (eds) Chaos, Complexity and Leadership 2013. Springer Proceedings in Complexity. Springer, Cham
Bakir, V. (2017). Abu Ghraib. In P. Joseph (Ed.), The SAGE Encyclopedia of War: Social Science Perspectives (Vol. 1, pp. 1-5). Los Angeles: SAGE Reference.
Northhouse, P. (2016) Leadership; Theory and Practice 7thEdition. SAGE Publications.
Obolensky, N., (2016). Complex adaptive leadership: Embracing paradox and uncertainty. Burlington, Vt;Farnham, Surrey;: Gower
Singh, H., & Singh, A. (2002). Principles of complexity and chaos theory in project execution: Anew approach to management. Cost Engineering, 44(12), 23-32.
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