February 2011 Deep Insights

What if the butterfly effect was a person effect? Is it possible that one person could influence others in their company to take action? If so, could that one person begin a chain of events that would allow the company to prosper? Would that person’s influence be limited by position, education, or discipline? Or, would everyone’s actions be encouraged, considered, and challenged for the betterment of the whole? The answer to these questions depends on the environment of the company.

Autocratic governance builds filters which block the free flow of air. The graceful movements of the butterfly’s wings are only visible to those who are near. Adjacent neighbors never see the movement, which is blocked by bureaucratic filters. Although a butterfly can float across bureaucratic filters it can also be blown away in cross currents never to be seen again. What’s more, under autocratic governance, a butterfly can be captured, taken away for only a few to examine with the intent of releasing it anew as a creation of their own. Once released, its ability to fly has been hindered and it is left to float in drafts blown by the adversary incapable of adjusting its path to prosperity.

In contrast, democratic governance is friendly. Gentle winds send the butterfly from one meadow to the next. Its beauty is shared with adjacent neighbors who encourage continued flight. Everyone works together to find a landscape that will be enhanced by the butterfly’s beauty. During its flight it finds friends in those who see its beauty and enemies among those who fear its effect on the landscape. The challenge turns into a dilemma to find a landscape beneficial to the many or, at least one that will accept new beauty without prejudice. While the debate continues, other butterflies appear and chaos erupts causing all to find shelter. No one wants to move forward facing the critics sure to appear.

Lastly, governing by consensus frees the butterfly into warm trade winds that allow travel to and from adjacent neighborhoods. The butterfly isn’t blown about chaotically but it never lands. The landscape changes in response, attempting to entice the butterfly to settle in its meadow. The butterfly seeks members to join it, but soon finds itself in competition with others. The members must now decide who should land and when. Discussions labor long into darkness as the trade winds gently move the butterflies beyond the initial meadow to begin another search. Everyone is pleased nothing happened.

People lost in the winds of governance and left on their own, will not become visible to the world around them. Organizations must protect their people by creating an environment where experimentation is strategy and disruptions are accepted as opportunities. Everyone must be accountable for transparency; experiments must be recognized as initiative and those that succeed must be held high for everyone to admire. People will create the butterfly effect when heard and seen. When they are rewarded for their creative contributions and recognized for participation in the prosperity of the whole.