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These days, we constantly read that institutions, their leaders, and all employees must be flexible in responding to rapid change to remain competitive. And that is exactly what flexibility means. Being flexible means being able to move with ease. The better you know yourself, the easier flexibility becomes. For companies, this means that, thanks to sound structures and processes, they can quickly address and react to the unforeseen—provided that is the goal.
Unfortunately, I am frequently brought into companies where, on the very first day, a director or manager tells me I need to be very flexible when working with them. Just as a side note: I believe that anyone who has spent a significant amount of time working in less developed countries doesn't need to be asked for flexibility. In those countries, you always live and work with several alternative plans in your pocket to be able to react quickly and easily to unforeseen situations. But back to these supposedly flexible managers... After just a few hours or days of working with them, I observe that they like to swap the words "chaos" and "flexibility" to their advantage or to present themselves in a positive light. Chaos signifies a state of complete confusion and disorder, making it almost the opposite of flexibility. Chaotic managers, in this context, are those who are neither able to organize and coordinate their time or resources, nor can or will they work based on processes or structures. Being chaotic means these individuals often assign tasks to their teams at the last minute, perform the same procedures differently every time, and often have little understanding of efficiency.
A major request to these so-called "flexible" managers: work on yourselves before you cause any more destruction! Because your chaos has nothing, absolutely nothing, to do with flexibility. Through your chaos, you are causing enormous harm to your company: employee dissatisfaction, inefficiency in workflows and productivity, and inward-focused efforts because processes and structures are missing or cannot be applied—and with these inward-looking eyes, the company loses sight of the truly important, unforeseen external changes that actually require flexibility.
I always compare this to a large cruise ship: without the perfect interplay of planning, processes, structures, and the crew following these instructions and taking on their designated tasks, the ship and its crew could not react quickly and flexibly to the unforeseen. As soon as the unexpected occurs—such as an iceberg in the route—everything must run like clockwork. Only in this way can the heavy cruise ship avoid the iceberg, and thus, disaster. Flexibility, therefore, does not mean chaos. Chaos only prevents flexibility and stands in its way. It hinders companies from being able to respond quickly, agilely, and purposefully to the unforeseen changes that are occurring faster and more frequently in today's world.
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