Tackle Chaos by Letting It Reign—Then Reining It In for Order

You walk into a Monday already a dozen texts behind, as the department is suddenly told the software platform will change by month’s end. The administrators are just as surprised as frontline staff. Some people scramble to invent new checklists and protocols; others vent frustrations or slip into paralysis. You feel the tension—a charge in the air every time a phone buzzes.

There’s an old reflex to crush confusion instantly, to demand certainty, to lock everything back into place. But experience—and a few scars—teach you that snapping too quickly into rigid order can stifle adaptation and leave hidden problems to fester. Instead, you decide to let the confusion breathe. For two days, your team floods a whiteboard with ideas, gripes, creative hacks, and what-if questions. No one pretends to have all the answers. Gradually, patterns emerge—certain risks repeat, a few workarounds seem promising, and some rumors are clarified.

When the dust settles, you step in to chart the new plan. With the team’s contributions fresh in mind, you sketch a rough project flow, assign temporary leads for key issues, and set short-term check-in dates. Instead of chaos lingering, you corral it into a series of managed experiments and clear goals.

Psychology tells us that tolerance for ambiguity is a mark of resilient, adaptive leaders. Behavioral research shows teams exposed to controlled uncertainty followed by clear structure outperform those locked into either permanent chaos or premature rigidity.

Next time your group or team is thrown off-balance by surprise changes, pause and let everyone air their concerns and quick ideas, resisting the temptation to clamp down right away. Commit to a brief period where questions and creative suggestions are welcomed, and then shift gears to establish new routines and clear next steps. You'll find that by welcoming a bit of disorder before restoring order, you foster resilience and uncover solutions you might otherwise miss. Try this the next time a curveball comes your way.