Karen Boyes ...............................................................................When ‘Stuff’ hits the Fan - Let it!...........
It turns out the adage ‘what doesn't kill you makes you stronger’ is true.
In 1977, Ilya Prigogine was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work in the field of Thermodynamics.
The second law of thermodynamics states when things are left alone in our universe, they will eventually go to
disorder and chaos. For example, when a tree falls in the forest, it will eventually rot and decay. Over time it will go
into more disorder, then chaos.
Studies show, however, that nature eventually creates order from this chaos. Prigogine found that as we increase the
energy or pressure beyond the object’s ability to hold that pressure (threshold), the object begins to vibrate to the
point it can’t take it anymore. Then something amazing happens – it evolves into a more complex structure than its
original form.
To explain further, the tree that fell in the forest will be covered by soil and decays. From the pressure of earth, over
time, the tree turns to coal. If pressure is continually added, the coal turns to diamond, a structure many times
stronger than the tree or the coal and able to withstand an increased amount of pressure. This process is irreversible,
totally unpredictable and a result unrecognisable from the original form.
Humans are subjected to stress and problems, this is part of life. Often people go to great lengths to avoid, deny or
distract themselves from the pressure. However, allowing you to embrace challenges and hardships means there is
growth and liberation beyond the disorder and chaos.
In nature when pressure is added (perturbation) and the organism starts to evolve, it releases energy, usually in the
form of heat. When pressure is placed on humans, the energy released is called emotion. These are known as fear,
anger, frustration, joy etc. If we do not allow the emotion to release, growth stops and the process of natural
evolution is halted.
The phrase, ‘no pain, no gain’ also has meaning here. If you want yourself or your team to evolve, you must add
pressure within a supportive environment. As business owners, entrepreneurs and managers, we must acknowledge
the emotion coming up, as a sign of disorder and chaos occurring while holding the pressure firmly with kindness and
understanding for a transformation to occur.
Think about some of the break-thru moments in your life. They are most often when you were in the depths of
despair, frustration or anger and when you were at what you thought was rock bottom, you pushed on and made a
decision that moved you forward and made you stronger.
Have you ever noticed the closer you get to a deadline, the more productive you start to be? A colleague once
promised $10,000 of his own money (which he didn’t have) to each team member if he did not achieve his goal. The
pressure of losing face was so great, he achieved his target quickly.
Many times from within the emotional state it is challenging to see the lesson to be learned.
Twentieth century philosopher, Buckminister Fuller, is quoted as saying, “You will never be given a task that you
cannot handle” and also, “Your reward in life for learning the lesson is a bigger lesson.”
Embrace ‘perturbation’ in your life and business. Be strong enough to hold the boundaries for others and allow the
emotion to help transform learning for all. During 2014 when ‘stuff’ hits the fan, let it.
Karen Boyes CSP is an international speaker based in New Zealand who has the rare
ability to leave her audience buzzing. Her practical solutions for learning, teaching,
studying, living, working, communicating and growing more effectively makes her a great
choice as a conference speaker and workshop leader. Contact: +64 4 528 9969 or
[email protected] or http://spectrumeducation.com/