Mastery, mystery and muddling through - 2

Through the widespread interplay of our own and everyone else’s ongoing interactions, we are perpetually creating the future together.

Within this, and in our diverse ways, we each desire to be masters of our own destiny. At the same time, we have to find our way through what the poet John Keats once described as the “uncertainties, mysteries and doubts” of life. As such, we have no option but to muddle through the twists and turns that emerge along the way. But we can – if we so choose - seek to do so with purpose, courage and skill.

Ordinarily, the phrase “muddling through” tends to be used dismissively; supposedly devoid of application and intent. That is, as something that a proper approach to life will overcome. Or that, in the context of organization, ‘proper management’ will cure. This, though, is far removed from the complex reality of what people actually find themselves doing every day. As such, muddling through is not a second-best option, to be supplanted by textbook approaches to life’s challenges. It is what we are all unavoidably engaged in, as we seek to find our way through the real-world complexities within which we are immersed. Striving to do so with purpose, courage and skill is then the very best that any of us can do.
 
Some aspects of these dynamics are illustrated in the accompanying diagram. Alongside this, my recently published book, The Wiggly World of Organization – Muddling through with purpose, courage and skill, offers further thoughts and practical guidance on this core aspect of human being, as it applies to organization and management practice.

A complementary post, Mastery, Mystery and Muddling Through - 1, was published on this blog in August 2017.