If you have not noticed, change in your workplace is not gradual: it is cataclysmic. 
            In the words of Jeremy Rifkin, author of The End of Work, “Throughout the world there is a sense of momentous change taking place -- change so vast in scale that we are barely able to fathom its ultimate impact.  Life as we know it is being altered in fundamental ways.”
            And the nature of this change is not external, it is between our ears.  Megahertz, miniaturization and globalization have conspired to fashion a workplace that does not even resemble the rigid expectations of our past putty-colored walls.  Chaos is the new organizing principle of our work addresses.
            Nanoseconds have replaced months.  Internet meetings have replaced face-time.  Pay for performance has replaced “give it the ol’ college try” annual performance review.
            The rules have changed.  We no longer have any choices. Chaos does not take any prisoners.
            There are no choices, but there is an antidote: connectivity.  Connectivity is your ability to understand and then leverage the benefits of chaos.  There are seven skills that will make connectivity the best option you have in your crazy, and getting crazier, workplace.
            The first skill is “systemic literacy.” 
            Organizations run on unseen “systems.”  Expressions like “Excuse me, but we do not work that way here,” or “Our company culture would not approve of that…” are illustrations of systems that have profound effects, but often defy description.
            Dr. Peter Senge, author of The Fifth Discipline, talked about systems this way, “Business and other human endeavors are also systems.  They, too, are bound by invisible fabrics of interrelated actions, which often take years to fully play out their effects on each other.  Since we are part of that lacework ourselves, it’s doubly hard to see the whole pattern of change.  Instead, we tend to focus on snapshots of isolated parts of the system, and wonder why our deepest problems never seem to get solved.”
            Someone who has the professional expertise of connectivity sees the workplace as a series of invisible systems that have been non-verbally stitched together over decades.  Connectivity will therefore interrupt the atmosphere of chaos with this question, “What are the systems, not listed in any procedural manual, that are keeping us from taking action right now?”
            The problem with chaos is it does not have time to identify or understand organizational systems.  The professional who can recognize and name the systems that are keeping the workplace mired in mediocrity will be invaluable.
            The second skill is directly related to systemic structures.  This skill is personally becoming a “connector.”

            There are some people who can walk into a room and immediately have what Dr. Daniel Goleman calls “resonance.”  Resonance is a musical term which means, “the prolongation of sound.”  Literally, someone with resonance is a person whose influence intellectually and emotionally “carries” with other people.
A “connector” is an administrative professional who knows a lot of people, can emotionally identify with this growing group of acquaintances and then knows how to get the right people together in the right place at the right time.
The image of a connector is someone who stands in the middle of a crowd and then gently motivates  people to join hands.  In other words, the connector can say at strategic moments, “Let’s get Sue involved here.  She knows a lot about this area of our company and also knows the vendors who can help us right now.”
The third skill requires a visual learner. 
Some of us are auditory learners, others gather information by being “hands on” (kinetic) and still others have to “see it.”  The “see it” people are the visual learners.
This skill will use the back of an envelope, a white board, a PowerPoint slide or even sketching a diagram in the air to “show and tell” why a new process is not working in a chaotic work environment. 
Most adults can understand complex issues if they can visualize interrelated people and systems.  The professional who has moved from just moaning about the chaos to embracing connectivity knows how to draw the right picture.
The fourth skill is all about putting the right words together at precisely the right moment.  Connectors can change the environment by responding to resistance with honed verbal skills.
For example, if you are in a staff meeting and hear this statement from a member of the senior management team, “I am tired of the foot-dragging from the staff.  People are either going to suck it up and move on or they will move out.”
Someone with connectivity does not see a grating problem here, but an opportunity.
Putting the right words together may be an appropriate verbal wedge to leverage this situation.  The right words for this situation may be, “You are right, I have also observed the staff becoming hesitant to make a move on this new initiative.  What do you think their fear is all about?”
Notice connectivity is always looking for a positive way to take whatever energy is present and make that energy work for, not against, the organization.

There were two factors to note about this verbal response.  First, connectivity took all the angst out of the statement by agreeing with the senior management person.  There is no “target” left after this statement.  Whenever we hear, “You are right…” the defensiveness evaporates and the other person has an emotional reason to be open to the next statement.
The second part of this verbal response was a reinterpretation of the senior manager’s statement.  Instead of making this an ultimatum, the staff person who is into sync with connectivity will recast the entire issue around “fear.”  If you and your colleagues are talking about fear, your work group has something remedial to talk about in the next few minutes.
The fifth skill is specifically directed to the “economic buyer” in the room.  Connectivity has its eyes wide open and is willing to admit the person holding the check book is the king-maker in the room.
It is important to note that this skill has nothing to do with “kissing-up.”  This popular and historic workplace behavior has been going on since that spineless Adam blamed the missing apple on his spouse.  Adam obviously decided it was time for a little divine posterior smooching to hide his passivity.
No, connectivity knows that the economic buyer needs three definitive answers to these  questions:  (1)  “What will the proposal in front of me add to our bottom line?”  (2) “Will this decision make the company (and me) look good?”  (3) “How will we know if we have been successful?”
That is it!  Not too complicated.  The professional who knows the 800 pound guerilla in the room has to be accommodated on these three items will walk away the winner in a chaos-wracked environment.
After taking care of the economic buyer the person who has mastered connectivity will, in the sixth skill, know how to handle difficult, obstructionists in the room.  Let’s face it, there will always be an “outlier” in any workplace.
Outliers are statistically those people who will never “fit.”  There can be wonderful synergy and energy to move forward with a specific project/product, but there will always be the naysayer.
Connectivity approaches these people with four presuppositions:  (1)  You will never be able to please everyone.  (2)  Outliers normally voice opposition because they have an unmet need for attention.  (3)  Obstructionists can become part of the future when they figure out there is some “reward” for cooperating.  (4)  Opposition is an opportunity for the connector to redirect negative energy into synergistic teamwork.

When you use connectivity with outliers you will be known as someone who sees past the “presenting problem” to address the real reason for the resistance and someone who honestly believes everyone has the potential for a positive change. 
This attitude and skills with the obstructionist in the workplace leads to the final skill set of connectivity:  an assertive representation of, “Let me tell you why I am an asset to this organization.”
The chief criticism of assertiveness is it is nothing but self-promotion.  Do not buy that line.
The assertive adult has the right, without apology, to be specific with everyone in the organization as to what are her/his strengths.  An assertive response may be, “I consider this area to be one of my best skill sets.  I am ready to take on this challenge.”
Think about the implications.  Chaos creates childish whiners; connectivity creates adult achievers.
The words may sound glib, but the emotional reality is unmistakable.  If you are working in an organization that is up to its CRT screens in chaos, there will be more than enough “victims” to go around. 
On the other hand, if you are working with someone who has decided, through the skills of connectivity, to leverage chaos for all it is worth to the organization, life and work can be inviting.