“In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity” - Albert Einstein
Uber. WhatsApp. Instagram. Groupon. Slack.
What do all these businesses have in common? At first glance, you may say that they’re all tech companies — or more specifically, that they’re tech platforms and applications. But what if I asked you: when were these companies founded? Not a lot of people realize that the birth of these major companies was during (and right after) the 2008 financial crisis. In the business world, the timing of these companies coming up during a period of turmoil and hardship is a classic example of people seeing the opportunity within the chaos.
Imagine being amongst the greatest of entrepreneurs, inventors and designers in the world; bringing your invention to the world stage of innovation. Now imagine how it must have felt to be fired from that exact company. Instead of admitting defeat, Steve Jobs went on to later launch the world-renowned motion picture studio, Pixar. Basketball legend, Michael Jordan, failed to make it on his high school varsity basketball team. Oprah Winfrey was fired from her news reporting show with Baltimore TV.
If you look at these success stories, you’ll find a common thread: when chaos was staring them in the eye, they saw the opportunity that would allow them to smile right back. Great things can happen when you’re under control while in unfavorable conditions and pressures.
About Me
I’m Danny Elnatour, a recent engineering graduate from Queen’s University. I wanted to be an astronaut, and now I’m learning how to lead a global Fortune 500 HR firm where I’ll be shadowing and working alongside Adecco Canada’s leadership team to find out how to lead through change. As I go through this once-in-a-lifetime learning opportunity, I’d like to dive deeper into the concept of chaos and control.
Chaos and Control
The concept of chaos and control is best explained from its theoretical counterpart in mathematics. Chaos is the erratic and energetic nature of life that we don’t see coming — the complete disorder and confusion we inevitably face. Chaos theory looks at how very small changes to a system may lead to completely different behaviors. However, although some systems might appear to be completely random at first glance, these systems tend to have patterns. If we pay close enough attention to these systems, to see what’s truly going on in life, we will notice these chaotic patterns.
In doing so, we have imposed control on the chaos.
As we endure the hardships faced by the global pandemic, this timeless concept is ever more important to discuss. We’re all much better off if we learn how to control the chaos and find opportunity in crisis.
Opportunities in Chaos
The calm in the chaos
Life is hard, and the pandemic has likely added a lot of pressure and emotional strain to each of our lives in the past few months. As responsibilities continue to accumulate with one’s modern lifestyle, it can be hard to remain calm as the chaotic tornadoes push us around.
But one thing that will truly set us up to grow and succeed is our resilience and ability to withstand and learn from such hardships in life. No matter the scenario or circumstances you may find yourself in, it’s always possible to remain calm and stay in the right state of mind to overcome any obstacle.
Allow me to start with an example from my life.
An eyeopener amidst the chaos
In 2014, I suffered an eye accident that left me visually impaired for close to a month. Losing my eyesight — my gateway to processing my daily life — was chaotic. But it wasn’t long until I realized my other senses were strengthening. My hearing improved — I began to appreciate and understand the various sounds in life. My remaining senses gave me a learning opportunity that I wouldn’t have picked up on if I didn’t choose to seek the opportunity to do so. Ever since I got my eyesight back, I now appreciate all the little things in life.
You could say it was definitely an eyeopener for me.
Every chaotic moment and scenario, no matter how small or big, has underlying opportunities within them to learn from, to grow, and to turn the negativity into positivity. You just need to keep looking for them. Even in the chaos of this current pandemic, there are always opportunities to seize.
Learning from your own setbacks
Let’s segment setbacks into two categories: massive chaotic failures and smaller, but common, hardships.
I’ve learned to embrace failures as an opportunity to learn and grow. I’ve failed numerous times, both personally and professionally. I’ve failed at taking a startup to the next stage, making the varsity basketball team, persuading a disobedient teammate to understand my perspective, being there for a friend, and many other things.
I’ve learned from these experiences, reflected upon them, and then altered my decision-making process for the next opportunity that comes down the line.
And while it’s great to learn from such failures, I believe we truly learn and grow much more by seeking opportunities to learn from smaller but more common hardships. These are the simplest types of pushback we endure on a day-to-day basis — things as small as conversational disagreements and standard inconveniences.
When we’re aware of the opportunity to learn or grow from these small disturbances, disagreements, annoyances and inconveniences that appear in your daily life, we begin to appreciate the little things that much more. And in training ourselves to turn these small disturbances into learning opportunities, it makes us more open to seeing opportunities in other facets of our life, too.
Why I Joined the CEO for One Month Program
Throughout the CEO For One Month interview process, I was given the choice to opt out of the 2020 selection process and postpone it to 2021, but I’m so glad I opted for this year’s condensed program. Here’s why.
This opportunity, at this specific time, will allow me to learn more about leadership during a crisis. There are distinct differences between leadership in normal times and what leaders do in times of crisis, which is why I believe it will be very rewarding to see how the Adecco leadership team is able to manage, engage and empower their employees during this time.
Not only that, but Adecco’s core mission and role in this pandemic is truly heartwarming and paramount for rebooting our economy: getting people back to work. I believe that it will be very meaningful and fulfilling to be part of an organization that is playing their part in bringing economies and societies back in shape.
How to Adapt Your Approach to Deal with Chaos
From my experiences with chaos and what I’ve learned so far from Adecco’s leadership team, I have put together the following 3 ways to deal with chaos in your life.
Learn to control the chaos
I’ve learned that life is truly 10% action and 90% reaction. Our reactions, not our actions, define who we are. Instead of turtling, caving-in, complaining and admitting defeat when faced with hardship, we can react positively and see the opportunity to control the chaos.
Learn to grow with the chaos
The best way to control and seize opportunities amidst the chaos is by having a growth mindset. I put this strategy into practice by working at an HR firm instead of pursuing my childhood dream to become an astronaut. I made this decision because I felt that this path would give me more opportunities to learn and grow from.
Traditionally, when we talk about careers, it’s assumed that everyone is on a single career path for their entire working lives. But the truth is our careers are very malleable — it never ends up the way we thought it would. By reacting to chaos with flexibility and a growth-mindset, we can act with a relentless pursuit of perfection every day. This is a mindset where we strive to not accept mediocrity, allowing us to challenge the status quo and push ourselves to grow — to smile right back at the chaos.
Learn to be open with the chaos
Be open, alert and ready to seize opportunities. They’re everywhere. The best learning opportunities tend to be the ones that are hidden amidst the chaos. These opportunities are not going to be the ones that are served to you on a silver platter — you need to get out there and grab them.
My Experience at Adecco and Lessons Learned
There are a lot of opportunities when we’re either under control, in chaos, or when we’re controlling the chaos. Whether we’re under a controlled situation, or a chaotic one, or attempting to control the chaos, there are always ample opportunities to learn and grow from these experiences. I’m already learning a lot about leadership in times of crisis and I can’t wait to share what else I learn from Adecco and this virtual internship. Stay tuned!
Follow Danny’s journey as Adecco Canada’s #CEOForOneMonth at:
LinkedIn
Instagram: @ceo1m_canada
About the Author
Danny is a recent Computer Engineering graduate from Queen's University. Fulfilling his childhood dream to become an astronaut, he interned at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory for two summers. At Queen's, Danny held numerous leadership positions as Co-Founder of Queen's University Business and Engineering (QUBE), Managing Director of freelancing and educational startup Connectiv8, and Co-Chair of Queen's Venture Capital. In collaboration with numerous C-suite executives, he has led several management consulting engagements in QUBE, premier consultancy group CREO Solutions, and as a Strategy and Operations intern at multinational professional services firm Ernst and Young. Since the upbringing of COVID-19, Danny has joined the board of advisors of two startups, co-founded a startup building a high-tech sanitization-based healthcare solution, and co-founded a multi-million dollar early-stage seed-fund and venture capital group, Chiron Ventures.
He's bilingual and a citizen of Canada, United States, and Lebanon, with his hometown back in Doha, Qatar. He plays competitive basketball, soccer, boxing and eSports, and loves to freestyle dance and DJ in his free time.