Say “Yes to the Mess” to Explore New Possibilities | The Best Words

Whether you are struggling to manage your daily life, a small business, a mid-size nonprofit, or a large corporation, you need to establish rules and expectations for how things will work. Chances are, you’ve already got an idea for how things will go, even if you have not written down a detailed 5 year plan.

However, not everything will happen according to a specific road map or recipe. There are too many variables. Life is unpredictable. Some might call it messy.

In his book Yes to the Mess, Frank J. Barrett argues that this unpredictability is not a problem. Uncertainty is to be courted and even intentionally created to allow for new possibilities. Frank Barrett is Professor of Management and Global Public Policy at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA. He holds a PhD in Organizational Behavior. An accomplished musician, he traveled extensively with the Tommy Dorsey Band.

Organizations should train and trust their leaders to listen to each other, account for changes, and learn and grow together. In this way they can react to small changes and even massive transitions in order to get better results and arrive at a more profound final destination than anyone could have imagined independently.