Murphy’s Law (that whatever can go wrong, will) is the natural result of organizations and their leaders rushing headlong into situations of negligible visibility

When Napoleon still ruled most of Europe, a Prussian general called Carl von Clausewitz wrote a book entitled “On War” — one of the all-time, classic books on warfare and strategy, still studied in military academies worldwide. In it, he coined the term “friction” to mean all the things that fail in the chaos of battle conditions. It’s better known in business as Murphy’s Law: that whatever can go wrong, probably will.

In another chapter of the same book, “Intelligence in War,” he discussed the problems of getting accurate information in the middle of a military engagement: a situation later summed up by others as “the fog of war.”

These two aspects of battle, fog and friction, account for most of the mistakes and fumbling that characterize all military campaigns. On paper, the strategy is clear. Once battle starts, people lose their way, communications become garbled, and no one is sure who is doing what where and to whom. The result is a series of unforced errors that can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

Business, like warfare, is messy and uncertain

Despite all our electronic wizardry and battalions of analysts, what von Clausewitz wrote holds true on both the battlefield and in the boardroom. As soon as people move from the calm of planning meetings to the messiness of action, fog obscures the vision and friction confounds preparation. While actions fail to work as planned (friction), accurate information is missed, lost, or mangled (fog).

The ensuing confusion, tension, adrenaline, and anxiety brings in Murphy’s Law to govern events. If you create “battle” pressures in an organization — by competitiveness, under-staffing, overwork, fear of dismissal, pressure to win no matter what, and despotic management — you’ll get what real battles bring: chaos, confusion, constant breakdowns, frantic levels of anxiety, and many unnecessary losses. All that hurry, stress, competition, anxiety, in-fighting, and pressure to meet near-impossible deadlines increases fog and friction a thousand-fold.

Business friction

Machines that run at high speed demand constant and abundant lubrication to prevent friction between the parts. Slower-speed machines need less. Running a machine, or a business, faster than it should go is the perfect recipe for provoking the maximum number of breakdowns.

That’s even more true when an organization is being forced to run faster and harder that it was designed or intended to do. Taking organizations and whipping them into a frenzy of activity has become a favorite pastime of consultants and gurus of all kinds. It looks good on paper, and in the short-term costs fall and profits soar, but mature organizations are rarely able to jump back into the rapid growth of their youth without paying a huge penalty: the build-up of friction as component parts wear out and systems designed for methodical use collapse under the strain. Starbucks is only the latest example of a business that has learned that excessive growth comes at a price.

The fog machine in the executive suite

Do you remember the game children used to play called “Chinese Whispers?” How you sat in a ring, whispering a message to the next person, who had to pass it on right away, whether it made sense or not? That’s the state of internal communications in many companies today. It’s no wonder garbage comes out, whatever was put in at the start.

Too much haste is the prime cause of mistakes and omissions in corporate communication. A person under pressure hasn’t the time to check they’ve explained clearly and the other person has fully understood. Someone listening when all around them is frantic is very likely to mishear the message or grasp only an incomplete form. If it doesn’t seem to make sense, they’ll try to remedy the nonsense using the best guess they can. No time to check back or ask for clarification.

The corporate grapevine is often a better, more accurate source of information than official channels simply because everyone takes their time when relaying gossip.

Coping with fog and friction

Fog and friction are the prime causes of loss and wastage in organizational settings — wastage of money, time, effort, manpower, and resources of every kind. They turn opportunities into fiascos and cause excellent plans to fail. The world is a turbulent place; you can’t change that. It makes no sense to add to your problems through self-inflicted and unnecessary time pressure.

The best way to avoid both the effects of Murphy’s Law and messed up communications is simple: slow down. Give yourself time to react properly when things go wrong — for they surely will sometimes, whatever you do. Instead of switching into panic mode, take a deep breath, stand back, and look at the problem without the turbulent effects of emotion. If you’re wise, you’ll have expected failures and snarl-ups, so you won’t be surprised.

Slow down. Relax. Take time to let the fog clear and the dust settle. Most situations are less pressing and critical than you think. Success in business rarely depends on split-second decisions; that’s just ego and hype.

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