Tools for fixing business entropyI’m back to talking about science and physics as a way to understand fixing business entropy. (See  definition if you missed that blog. This may be boring or confusing but if you read it, I promise it will be good for you.)

If you look at entropy in physical or scientific terms it is pretty easy to see how to fix it. Don’t forget that entropy results in a closed system through the equalization of energy among all elements of that system.

So to fix entropy in a physical system you need to add new energy from the outside.

Fixing Business Entropy

Same in business. Fixing business entropy means applying an outside force to find out why chaos is occurring and develop solutions for that chaos.

It can’t be done from the inside due to the nature of entropy. For a person within the business to address chaos, it would mean doing a regular job managing the chaos and adding extra time to deal with the resolution of it.

The extra effort rarely exists and rarely works because all other employees in the business will resist any application of force that would cause them to exert more than the minimal amount of effort required.

That’s where consultants come in. A consultant is an external force that can look objectively at why chaos is occurring, recommend solutions and drive implementation.

Then the consultant can go away and the business is left to slowly devolve into entropy all over again. Entropy is inevitable and that’s why consultants are inevitable. They are the outside force needed for fixing business entropy.

(And I hope that consultants everywhere can use business entropy as a justification for their existence.)