Introducing, Reestablishing and Maintaining Order

Abstract

There’s always a level of tension-based trauma in organizations. We operate from an assumption that there is no level that’s good, lowest is best. We take this position because trauma is an unpredictable phenomenon at best; it can transform into a number of different conditions and migrate throughout an organization. At its worst, it can rest innocuously with some other condition(s) and then erupt into an emerging crisis.

One thing that makes trauma unique is that the trauma per se does not spread, but its effects may trigger consequences in others. Traumatic strain can be triggered by the nature of the traumatic event, proximity to the event, the confidence observers have in the organization’s capacity to manage the event and the likelihood that a solution will be easy or difficult. What is important is reestablishing order—regaining alignment for the entire organization.