There are days when life just feels crazy and chaotic, especially if you are in a leadership position. Centuries ago, when this happened, people would say that things were going to hell in a hand basket, meaning things or people were spiraling out of control, and everything was rapidly becoming a disaster.
As a long time executive coach, I routinely meet people who have experienced this, or who are currently experiencing it. And everyone one of them will ask me some variation of this question: How do I create order in the midst of disorder? It is a great question, and an important question. However, the answer to this question takes a fair bit of exploration, sharing, and thinking.
First, we need to discern the difference between order and disorder. As defined by the dictionary, order is an arrangement of people or things in relationship to each other according to a particular sequence, pattern or method. Order promotes stability, security, and predictability. Order often refers to something that is harmonious, and purposeful in contrast to something that is confusing, and chaotic. Disorder, on the other hand, is a state of confusion, or an illness or condition that disrupts normal physical or mental functions. While a disease is a specific medical condition, disorder is a disruption in the normal function of things that may not have a known cause, and is a cluster of symptoms or causes.
With the above in mind, when we seek order within disorder, we are seeking stability, security, and predictability, especially when it is harmonious, and purposeful. The pathway to this experience has three components. First, we must know what matters most to us in our lives, because this will define our priorities and choices. As a Vermont farmer told me many years ago, “When it comes to making big decisions in my life, I know what is most important. It’s God, family, and then the farm. When I am good with the first two, I can handle what every happens in the third area of my life. The first two make my life meaningful and gives me a sense of purpose. The third is important, but if I lost the farm, which I hope never happens, I will always have God and my family. And that will always make a difference in what ever happens next.” Knowing what matters most always creates perspective and inner stability even in the midst of disorder.
Second, we must keep learning and keep listening to and/or reading from a diversity of voices and experiences. As Father Richard Rohr points out, “According to the great spiritual teachers, ignorance does not result from what we don’t know; ignorance results from what we think we do know.” Therefore, we must be committed to life-long learning from a diversity of sources and people. I like how the poet Mark Nepo captures the importance of learning: “Life is an apprenticeship in being receptive.” When we continue learning and listening, we are more receptive, and we discover important lessons to be learned in the midst of disorder.
Third, we must know ourselves, inside and out. For many, this is a tricky process. People want to know what makes them tick, for lack of a better term, but they don’t always like the process, and the work involved in creating this level of understanding. In essence, they want the happy feeling of knowing without the effort of going through the process of figuring it out. While there are many ways to know yourself, one unique way of doing this is to visit with people who you think role model this way of living and working, and asking them how they did it. Then, choose which pathway works best for you and your life. And recognize that knowing yourself is an ever evolving process of gleaning new insights and understandings.
The choice to seek order within times of disorder is an important one. Mark Nepo in his book, The Fifth Season: Creativity in the Second Half of Life (St. Martin’s Essential, 2025), writes “How do we stay close to what matters in a daily way in the midst of so many detours and distractions? Three essential ways come to mind. We stay close to what matters by remaining wholehearted, by clearing the confusion that constantly visits us, and by quieting the voices of lack that hoard what we have and compare what we don’t to all that is around us.” When we choose to remember what matters most to us, and when we keep learning and listening in combination with seeking to know our selves better, we discover an inner feeling of stability, security, and predictability, which is harmonious, and purposeful. And this is what allows us to be clear, confident and connected during times that are disorderly and chaotic.
© Geery Howe 2026
