Clarifying the complexity of emotion in HRD: The use of visualisation technology

Abstract

The essence of chaos and complexity theories is that ‘simple processes in nature [can] produce magnificent edifices of complexity without randomness. In nonlinearity and feedback lay all the necessary tools for encoding and then unfolding structures as rich as the human brain’ (Gleick, 1987, p. 306-307). Faith in the tools we use, whether they are accurate or not, has brought extraordinary insights and results. For example, Weick (1995) relates the story of the soldiers who used a map of the Pyrenees to find their way successfully in the Swiss Alps. For centuries we used Newtonian laws to solve quite adequately complex problems in the physical world until the general theory of relativity provided a better understanding of what occurs in time and space. Our attempts to find tools that will better clarify the complexity that confronts us may not give us an accurate picture of ‘reality’. Nevertheless, our attempts very often yield tools that reveal extraordinary insights that are ‘real’ for those seeking answers to practical issues. Thus, in the spirit of chaos and complexity, this chapter offers a tool that represents our attempt to begin unfolding the ‘objective correlatives’ of emotion structures in the workplace that influence the practice of HRD