The butterfly effect was created
from the theories of chaos mathematics.
Obolensky (2014) stated that chaos mathematics “shows how chaos has an
underlying order and pattern which can be used to good effect (p. 58). The term chaos creates an image in my mind of
things that are not in place, out of order, or not following the rules. When I look past that initial image I can
begin to understand how the chaos started in the first place and generally there
is a pattern that can explain it.
The butterfly effect proves that a
small change can have large results.
Obolensky (2014) explained “when a situation has a great sensitivity to
initial conditions a small change can have a disproportionate effect (p.
70). When we are trying to fix a problem
we often overlook small actions because we think they won’t have as large of an
impact, such as putting a Band-Aid on a bullet wound, when in fact the small
change may be just what is needed. In my
experience employees react with less pushback when small changes are made, so
if the answer to a large problem is a small change then the likelihood of all
employees being on board with it is high.
While working for JetBlue, I had an
experience of where a small change had a large impact for crewmembers. In the airline industry, it is common
practice for crewmembers to “bid” for their work schedules and this happens
every time there is a flight schedule change.
In the past, the management team at my station had created the
schedules, however, in other stations there were bid committee that would help
to create the bid lines. A bid committee
was made up of crewmembers from the station that would get together and offer a
bid to the management team to consider. Our
station fought to create a bid committee and won. While our bids were not always the ones
chosen, the fact we had the chance to create them improved morale and gave the
crewmembers a sense of control over their schedule. That small change had a large effect over the
entire station.
When I started working at the ski
resort, the night audit process was a bit of a nightmare. It was confusing, complicated and not well
structured. I didn’t think much about it
as the night auditor at the time had been there for years and seemed to be
handling it well. When she left the
company things began to slide downhill, as we were left with no one to run the
night audit and as a supervisor I was asked to step in. This is when I noticed just how difficult the
process was and how a few small changes might improve it. I started with the way the incoming arrivals
were organized and printed. This change
took our IT department less than five minutes, however, saved over an hour of
time during the night audit. It was a
huge improvement. The other change I
made was by ordering the legal-sized envelopes we used to hold guest
information that opened in the portrait orientation rather than landscape. This also saved much needed time during the
night audit process when they had to insert keys into the packets. The packets were stored in bins in the
portrait position; therefore, it was much easier to insert items into the
packets if they opened from the top rather than the side. These two seemingly minor changes had a great
impact on the night audit position and the time needed to complete it. The changes did not add any cost for the
company and very little time. In the end,
the changes were a huge success.
Chaos is often seen as a negative
entity; however, it can have many positive outcomes. Even the smallest of changes can have large
impacts, especially if the amount of resources needed for the changes is
minimal. The butterfly effect was
accidentally discovered yet had a profound effect on the world even outside the
realms of science and mathematics. I
will remember this when I am searching for solutions, as seemingly large
problems may have small solutions.
Obolensky, N.
(2014). Complex Adaptive Leadership: Embracing Paradox and Uncertainty.
Farnham, Surrey: Gower.
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