Navigating Chaos Quotes

“DACA: Detect, Adapt, Choose, Adopt Here is a four-step process I call DACA for how to change your leadership style and adapt to the right situation: Step 1: Detect. The first step to any sort of change is to identify the imperative to change. In the military, before we set out to plan our next mission we first needed to understand the environment in which we operated. Specifically, we needed to discern between two types of unknowns. The first is known unknowns, such as our capabilities, enemy pattern of life, and likely or unlikely responses. The second type is unknown unknowns, and these are indicated by the weather, terrain, and—again—enemy behavior. The degree to which we could anticipate an enemy’s response dictated our approach, much like understanding the relationship dynamics, interests, and vested resources amongst stakeholders in a meeting.”
― Jeff Boss, Navigating Chaos: How to Find Certainty in Uncertain Situations

“Cross-pollination was a process we performed in the Teams to spread the wealth of knowledge and experience from one team to another. If you really think about it, individual competence is certainly important for any organization because it contributes to overall performance. But individual performance alone is inconsequential. Here’s why. Progress—within any team or company—is a function of relationships; the process of how individuals work together or successively toward a shared objective determines results.”
― Jeff Boss, Navigating Chaos: How to Find Certainty in Uncertain Situations

“Tactical patience refers to an operator’s impulse control; it is his ability to see myriad possibilities into which a situation can unravel, but he remains cool, calm, and collected so as not get lost in the web of complexity. He is always ready—physically, mentally, and emotionally—to face whatever challenges are forthcoming, but he doesn’t “jump the gun” and make any assumptions. Conflict is inevitable, and he knows it. (More on this later.)”
― Jeff Boss, Navigating Chaos: How to Find Certainty in Uncertain Situations

“Anybody can perform a task that he or she already knows and understands. It’s when obscurity, doubt, and stress are interjected into the equation against the backdrop of survival that the creature of the unknown exposes us for who we are, not just what we know how to do.”
― Jeff Boss, Navigating Chaos: How to Find Certainty in Uncertain Situations

“The dichotomy that uncertainty presents, then, is both a serendipitous and deliberate opportunity to create something from nothing, to find opportunity where others see conclusion. After all, only from chaos can calmness emerge. There is chaos we deal with as individuals, teams, and organizations; chaos that presents itself at the most inopportune times, and requires you to zig when you’d rather zag. No matter where you are, chaos finds you, and if you don’t know how to deal with change as an individual or as an organization, then you get eaten, swallowed whole, and left for dead.”
― Jeff Boss, Navigating Chaos: How to Find Certainty in Uncertain Situations

“From uncertainty one doesn’t become any more uncertain. It’s like hitting rock bottom--and from rock bottom, the only place left to go is up. So, what exists with both certainty and uncertainty is an interdependent system; a world, situation or whatever you want to call it that only occurs based on the evolution and existence of the other. No matter what system you employ to defeat the other, there are certain principles that govern certitude in human nature. For instance, you can’t have trust without honesty. Likewise, there can be no learning without humility, no selflessness without service, no innovation without disruption, no leadership without followership, and no fitness without “fatness” (kidding, but you get my point). What I’m trying to say is that each element depends on its reciprocal for two things: Its existence Its solution”
― Jeff Boss, Navigating Chaos: How to Find Certainty in Uncertain Situations

“To remedy chaotic situations requires a chaotic approach, one that is non-linear, constantly morphing, and continually sharpening its competitive edge with recurring feedback loops that build upon past experiences and lessons learned. Improvement cannot be sustained without reflection. Chaos arises from myriad sources that stem from two origins: internal chaos rising within you, and external chaos being imposed upon you by the environment. The result of this push/pull effect is the disequilibrium that you feel in your heart, mind, body and soul, and which manifests itself as confusion, anxiety, lack of fulfillment, or despair.”
― Jeff Boss, Navigating Chaos: How to Find Certainty in Uncertain Situations

“Of course, there was also the bureaucratic B.S. that pervades every organization. Different leaders reacted differently to stress. Some comported themselves well and put the mission first while others allowed stress to impact their decision-making. I use the word “allowed” because that’s just what it is: a choice to open oneself to external influences because the core self lacks the self-awareness to slap adversity in the face and say, “Get outta here. I got this.” Most of our actions at the operator level relied upon the decisions made by senior leaders, and if the decision-making process stalemated for any reason, then momentum lagged across the whole organization—as did results. When this happened—when there was an impetus for action but a lack of contextual awareness—there was only one thing us operators could do: we needed to adapt. We needed to make use of the minimal guidance we had because the problem set (i.e. the threat or crisis) wasn’t going to go away, and the only way to solve it was to fill the gap.”
― Jeff Boss, Navigating Chaos: How to Find Certainty in Uncertain Situations

“The secret is to keep the performance capacities (physical, mental, emotional, spiritual) fulfilled, as doing so sustains energy levels to perform, to adapt, and to lead. By meeting the threshold of uncertainty posed by Murphy (of Murphy’s Law) with the four pillars of performance, we can chip away at the daily challenges that arise and slap them in the face—hard.”
― Jeff Boss, Navigating Chaos: How to Find Certainty in Uncertain Situations

“What really happens in these situations, however, is the proliferation of chaos. In response to the uncertainty “out there,” the busy worker bees inside the organization work more frantically, thus increasing the chaos “in there.” Then, as a means of reducing the amount of uncertainty, people dig deeper into the weeds, analyzing more, and scrutinizing everything in hopes of making the “best” decision. What results is analysis paralysis; seemingly endless meetings that adjourn with no one left in any better a position than the one they were in when they started.”
― Jeff Boss, Navigating Chaos: How to Find Certainty in Uncertain Situations

“Discoveries in human performance were made that suggested the opposite: too much focus on one particular “silo” of training led to faster athlete burnout and actually inhibited performance.”
― Jeff Boss, Navigating Chaos: How to Find Certainty in Uncertain Situations

“It’s no secret that to wield optimal performance from an employee, he or she needs a balance of formal education and practical job-related experience, but also personal fulfillment, meaningful relationships, and opportunities to contribute and grow.”
― Jeff Boss, Navigating Chaos: How to Find Certainty in Uncertain Situations

“This is exactly why navigating uncertainty requires balance, because the more intangibles at your disposal the wider your knowledge base to create certainty—or something that creates value for you.”
― Jeff Boss, Navigating Chaos: How to Find Certainty in Uncertain Situations

“Hollywood likes to portray SEALs with a shoot ‘em up, almost larger than life persona that capitalizes on brawn and bravado, and unfortunately, that’s the only image of us that much of the public will ever know. What is not shown, however, are the mental capacities and emotional tolerances that we strive to enhance on a daily basis through an organizational model of continuous improvement, shared understanding, humility, and leadership.”
― Jeff Boss, Navigating Chaos: How to Find Certainty in Uncertain Situations