The Tension: Chaos / Order

What we can learn from the world of talent agencies, and why invisible order can power our infinite loop.

Listen now: Anchor | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Google Podcasts | PocketCasts | Breaker | Overcast

We're usually focused on one or the other.

Some of us work chaotically, frantically, excitedly. Papers scatter and loose ends stay loose.

Some of us thrive on the order of things. Keeping matters tightly controlled, in check, and aligned.

Chaos and Order may not show up in the same place or at the same time, but we’ve got to be aware of their existence.

One line of work where Chaos and Order is on full display is the world of talent agencies.

Agents typically operate in chaos - pulling together ideas; going out and meeting buyers, artists, and managers; throwing dates in and out of calendars; shifting and shunting and balancing options.

As a deal, or a number of deals, begin to solidify, order has to kick in.

An agent with their own roster doing decent enough business will have an assistant - the more successful agents will have an office full of them.

The assistant brings order to the chaos. Pouring the chaos through a funnel to create something clear and controllable.

The order doesn’t just apply to deals. It applies to managing schedules, fending off unwanted noise,

But here’s the thing. Too much chaos and it all falls apart. The deal doesn’t happen, a zero gets missed off the fee, or the clients lose trust.

Too much order and there’s no flex, no room for movement, no ability to respond to changing circumstances.

The answer would seem to be to find a place where order starts and chaos ends. It’s nearly right, but not quite.

It’s an infinite loop, not a dashed line. The momentum has to continue. The chaos has to be allowed to do its thing. The order has to slip in and out, pulling out and shaping exactly what’s needed. And it needs to be able to keep happening

And because it’s a loop not a line, The Tension is in how we can turn chaos into order - and back again - without losing the magic or momentum.