Finding order in chaos: How HR can balance structure and problem solving in an organisation

There are two ways to manage an organisation. Process or chaos.

Process involves employees performing tasks in an orderly, logical and structured way. When a problem occurs, there’s already an answer waiting in the wings. The process-led organisation considers scenarios ahead of time. It’s all about predictability. And everything goes away neatly at the end of the day into little boxes in the printing room. 

Chaos is more impromptu and carries a lot of weight and speed. Outcomes are far from predictable, but this sort of structure and fluidity is capable of producing magic.

Managing people and teams in chaos can be, and is at the best of times, frustrating. Trying to make sense of people and finding some order in the chaos is difficult for HR. But the thing is, there’s often a method to the madness. A kind of purpose to the chaos. 

If you can help managers and people move through chaos, and recognise it as a potentially generative force in your organisation, it can transform ideas, projects and people within the walls of your organisation.

In this blog, we’ll explore why you should embrace chaos in organisations and how to implement it while still respecting the need for some measure of order.

The greatest examples of these extremes

Are you a Beatles or a Rolling Stones fan? They’re the best example of these extremes.

When the Beatles stepped into the studio to record Let It Be, their sessions were all about process. Regular hours, structured rehearsal time and a framework that helped prevent tension from escalating into chaos. 

Meanwhile, the Stones’ recording sessions were all about chaos. Late nights, missing band members and parties.

In this instance, both yielded great work, but each carried different risks and rewards. But either too much chaos, and too little process, or too much process, and not enough chaos can be risky. The first scenario results in a sentence of life to boredom. And the second is anarchy. 

So what’s the best situation for organisations who are trying to manage change, people and find new and real solutions to problems? 

From chaos comes order

People, when confronted with change, have the capacity to fall apart so that they can reorganise themselves to be better adapted to their current environment. 

In the late 1970s, the Nobel Prize winner Ilya Prigogine realised that people can't transform, find new answers and move on to the next if they’re not willing to move into a place of confusion and the unknown—also known as chaos.

Essentially, he discovered that true transformation often requires stepping into confusion and the unknown.

Now, chaos looks like different things for different organisations and people within those organisations. For example, in advertising, it’s waking up every day, staring at the blank white page of a computer or notepad and creating a new idea out of thin air to sell to a client. In the world of fintech, it might be resigning to the uncertainty of legislative changes in your country that could directly affect profitability and growth. 

So while it’s good to always have a sense of process in the day-to-day for employees, a little bit of chaos, however that might look and feel, is important for employees and in turn organisations to move past roadblocks and look for solutions. 

How to implement chaos and order into your organisation

Managers can actually intentionally create chaos by overloading employees with important and relevant information they can't make sense of. The information has to be relevant, and it has to be important. 

Because naturally, people get scared and frustrated and try to problem-solve their way out of it. Finally, they let go. 

Once they let go, they can come up with bold solutions that integrate all of the information. On the other side of chaos, you get a new kind of order, which is adaptive, transforming, all the things HR teams want people in their organisation to be. 

Jack Welch, the founder of GM Motors, once said that when the rate of change in an organisation becomes slower than the rate of change outside, the end is near. 

Balancing process and chaos is crucial for any organisation. Lean too far into predictable frameworks, and you risk stagnation. Go too deep into chaos, and you breed anarchy. But a careful dance between the two yields transformative ideas and engaged employees, ensuring your organisation thrives in the face of change.

About Us

Martian Logic has been empowering HR teams for years with simple, scalable solutions that let organisations thrive. Our intuitive HRIS streamlines every aspect of HR, from recruitment and onboarding to performance tracking and employee engagement. With powerful analytics and flexible workflows, our platform helps you balance both process and creative thinking within your organisation. Ready to transform your HR approach for a more adaptable, innovative workplace?