Chaordic Stepping Stones

Chaordic Stepping Stones

I use this primarily as a helpful planning tool. It is called chaordic, from the work of Dee Hock, pointing to the sweet spot between chaos and order and the relationship between the two. I also use this model as a way of charting the landscape when first interacting with a client. It is good to hear the story of what they are up too and what they feel is important. It’s a smart move to pull out a piece of paper and start placing things from the story into these categories:

1. Need (the core story, the nerve, the essence of why a project would matter)
2. Purpose (the need translated into an intention to guide a project)
3. Principles (values that are important to keep a project in integrity)
4. People (participants from the system that can help us learn well together, that can help sustain an on-going effort)
5. Organizational Concept (the beginnings of ideas and format — a meeting, a conference, a series of dialogues, etc.)
6. Limiting Beliefs (engrained thoughts, limits, elephants that will impede full commitment — they are there anyway; might as well bring them to the surface)
7. Structure (next steps, resources that need to be in place, things that move a project along)
8. Practice (thing things we will do and return to with each other — our learning, our relationships, our updates, our requests for help)

If I see that any of these categories are sparse after listening to a clients story, I know where to ask a few more questions. This also serves as a great roadmap for a team or group of people that is in longterm work together.