Managing Chaos in Business-Lessons from Sailing

A strong practice simulator or chaos is competitive sailing. If you can master chaos in a sailing race you can master chaos just about anywhere else; such as your job and relationships. As ships swipe within feet of each other at the beginning of the race and people yell out commands all over the place as the whole ship goes buzzing in activity one can get drowned, not in the water, but in the chaos of sailing.  A few tips can help you keep your mental bearings during chaos:

Train: The key to overcoming crisis is the train yourself on what steps to take and what contingencies are available. More training will lead to greater understandings of what to expect and what actions are needed to make it through the stress.

Stay Focused on Your Tasks: People will be screaming and running in a chaotic situation and will be creating additional chaos. Stay focused on your task and don't get overwhelmed. Drown out all the background noise and put one foot in front of the other.

Take a Second, Think and Breathe: Chaos pushes people to make decisions and actions quickly without thinking. The problem can result in the creation of even bigger problems as the wrong direction and activities occur. Take a second to breathe and think about your next steps.

Reflect:  After the chaos is all over, think about what you learned and how to improve for next time. Each new chaotic situation is a chance to learn and improve. Think of chaos as training.