The Chaos Theory of Careers: a User's Guide

by Jim E. H Bright , Robert G. L Pryor The purpose of this article is to set out the key elements of the haos Theory of areers an! to illustrate ho" these fun!amental concepts are particularly rele#ant to contemporary career !e#elopment. $n the process, "e sho" ho" "e ha#e applie! some of these concepts to counseling practice an! ha#e use! a time%honore!, but infre&uently ackno"le!ge!, metho! of reasoning in an effort to illustrate ho" the !eman!ing aspects of chaos theory can be communicate! in user%frien!ly "ays. Tra!itional approaches to career !e#elopment typically aim to un!erstan! the key attributes of the person an! then match these to compatible or congruent en#ironments '(obs). * recurring theme in the criticisms of tra!itional person%en#ironment fit mo!els by authors such as +a#ickas an! Baker 'in press), -rumbolt. '/010),2itchell, Le#in, an! -rumbolt. '/000), 3on!racek, Lerner, an! +chulenberg '/045), an! Lent, Bro"n, an! Hackett '/005) is that the person% en#ironment interaction has been characteri.e! in trait%oriente! terms 'e.g., 6a"is 7 Lof&uist, /048, +uper, /009). The relati#ely static nature of the terms of the interaction, person an! en#ironment, is no longer appropriate, gi#en the comple:ities an! change that are obser#e! in mo!ern careers. *rnol! ';998) note! that congruence bet"een the person an! en#ironment has been sho"n in se#eral metastu!ies to correlate poorly 'bet"een 9./ an! 9.;) "ith outcome measures such as satisfaction 'e.g., *ssouline 7 2eir, /041, Tranberg, +lane, 7 Ekeberg, /00<, =oung, Tokar, 7 +ubich, /004). *rnol! highlighte! the problem by obser#ing that the concept of congruence in J. L. Hollan!>s '/001) theory accounts for only /? to 8? of the outcome measure #ariance. He propose! /8 problems "ith the theory, inclu!ing ina!e&uate conceptuali.ation of the person an! the en#ironment, ina!e&uate measurement of the en#ironment, an! the fact that (ob en#ironments are increasingly !eman!ing #ariety an! !i#ersity an! that (obs are continually changing. +e#eral of #ocational psychology>s lea!ing authorities 'e.g., 2itchell et al., /000, Pryor 7 Bright, ;99<a, ;99<b, +a#ickas 7 Baker, in press) ha#e openly &uestione! the continuing #alue of tra!itional person%en#ironment fit mo!els of career choice, "on!ering "hether they fail to capture a!e&uately the comple:ities, uncertainties, an! !ynamic aspects of mo!ern "ork. *s +a#ickas an! Baker ha#e pointe! out, @Aith less stable personalities an! occupations, #ocational psychology>s basic mo!el of personen#ironment fit "ith its goal of congruence seems less useful an! less possible in to!ay>s labor market.@ areer theorists are increasingly intereste! in approaches that characteri.e the in!i#i!ual an! the en#ironment in more comple: an! !ynamic terms than the tra!itional person%en#ironment approaches. 3on!racek et al. '/045) !irecte! attention to the multiplicity of conte:tual factors in career !e#elopment. 2itchell et al. '/000) e:plore! the role of unplanne! e#ents in career choice. Patton an! 2c2ahon '/000) use! systems thinking to illustrate the comple: interconnecte!ness of multi#ariate influences on in!i#i!uals> career !ecision making. +a#ickas '/001) focuse! attention on in!i#i!uals> capacities for change an! creati#ity in the Grafting of a career. *s an e:tension of such thinking, "e pose the &uestion, @Ahat conceptual frame"ork of careers might be able to incorporate coherently such ne" i!eas as comple:ity, change, an! chanceB@ Recently, se#eral authors 'e.g., Bloch, /000, 6ro!ge, ;99;, Pryor 7 Bright, ;99<a, ;99<b) ha#e begun to in#estigate the potential of chaos an! comple:ity theory to e:plain career beha#ior. haos theory challenges tra!itional approaches to scientific e:planation an! goes to the heart of issues relating to "hat can be kno"n an! ho" it can be kno"n. $n chaos theory, t"o key concepts are nonlinearity an! recursi#eness. $n linear systems, all the elements a!! up to make the "hole, such as a cre!it car! balance being e&ual to the amount of money spent plus interest an! plus a monthly car! fee. * nonlinear system is characteri.e! by the elements a!!ing up to more 'or less) than the sum of the parts. Cor instance, the air time a song recei#es on the ra!io increases as the sales of the song propel it up the charts, "hich, in turn, increases the air time the song recei#es. $n this scenario, the sales an! airplay increase rapi!ly an! nonlinearly. Df course, the final outcome sees a sharp !ecline in sales an! airplay as the market becomes saturate! an! also tire! of the song. This e:ample also inclu!es recursi#eness%one #ariable influences another, "hich in turn influences the first one, an! so on. haos theory 'Gleick, /044, +te"art, /040) presents an account of the recursi#e application of se#eral nonlinear e&uations to system beha#ior, resulting in elements of both stability an! susceptibility to su!!en an!

!ramatic change at the same time. Curthermore, chaotic systems !isplay other characteristics such as a lack of pre!ictability at the micro le#el, "hile at the same time appearing to ha#e a !egree of stability at the macro le#el. $n a!!ition, their nonlinear nature means that minor e#ents can ha#e a !isproportionate outcome on the system. +uch i!eas are permeating many areas of contemporary science. To cite (ust one e:ample from Peacocke ';999), @EAJe kno", through key !e#elopments in theoretical biology an! physical biochemistry, that it is the interplay of chance an! la" that allo"s the matter of the uni#erse to be self%creati#e of ne" forms of organi.ation@ 'p. 88). haos theory !escribes a series of features of comple: system beha#ior that many social science researchers ha#e i!entifie! in their o"n areas of stu!y. Cor instance, in social psychology, *rro", 2cGrath, an! Ber!ahl ';999) ha#e !escribe! in great !etail ho" the tenets of chaos theory pro#i!e a compelling account of small group beha#ior. They highlighte! ho" chaos theory can pro#i!e useful insights into the !e#elopment of teams, ho" conflict arises in teams, an! ho" teams a!apt to change. $n the management literature, +tacey, Griffin, an! +ha" ';999) presente! chaos theory as a "ay to consi!er change, creati#ity, an! crisis in organi.ations. They highlighte! ho" tra!itional systems approaches in management theory are conceptually an! practically fla"e! in approach an! scope an! "hy chaos theory pro#i!es a more complete account of human beha#ior in organi.ations an! of the beha#ior of the organi.ations themsel#es. haos theory approaches to counseling ha#e been applie! in psychoanalysis '3an Een"yk, /00/) an! in family therapy ' hubb, /009). 6uffy ';999) outline! ho" the tenets of chaos theory might be useful in assisting a "orker "hose career has plateaue!. $n fact, careers counselors are alrea!y confronting the realities of ;/st century career !e#elopment, inclu!ing the implications of comple:ity, chance, an! change, "ith their clients. haos theory may pro#i!e a theoretical basis for career counseling practice an! a conceptual frame"ork through "hich further counseling a!#ances might be ma!e. areer rmnseling an! Pre!iction

* prere&uisite to a!opting a chaos theory approach is to accept that career !e#elopment is sub(ect to a "i!e range of !ifferent influences, many if not all of "hich are continually changing at !ifferent paces an! in !ifferent !egrees. $n other "or!s, career !e#elopment an! the influences upon it are highly comple:. Curthermore, it is increasingly accepte! that career beha#ior is influence! by unplanne! an! chance e#ents to a much more significant !egree than has been typically ackno"le!ge! 'e.g., Bright, ;99<, Bright, Pryor, 7 Harpham, in press, Bright, Pryor, Ailkenfel!, 7 Earl, in press, 2itchell et al., /000, Dsipo", /01<, Ailliams et al., /004). $ncorporating this "i!e array of influences an! ackno"le!ging the central role of chance e#ents in careers, ho"e#er, present a significant challenge to the possibility of accurate pre!iction. This challenge is important, because often "hen pro#i!ing career a!#ice, career !e#elopment professionals are e:plicitly or implicitly making pre!ictions about the suitability of !ifferent courses of action or (obs for a client on the basis of past beha#ior, kno"le!ge, skills, or interests. *s +a#ickas '/001) sai!, @the career counselor>s (ob is to see life prospecti#ely, to e:ten! a life theme into the future@ 'p. /8). *b!uction an! ommunication

The !ifficulty for both counselors an! clients of grasping some of the fun!amental notions of chaos theory is not to be un!erestimate!. 2oreo#er, chaos theory ackno"le!ges the finitu!e, an! therefore the limits, of the capacity of human un!erstan!ing. This appears to contra!ict the aspirations of much pre#ious science, "hich emphasi.e! the apparently boun!less ability of humans to research, un!erstan!, an! control the "orl! an! the things in it. 3arious attempts by "riters in the counseling fiel! 'e.g., *mun!son, ;99<b, Gabriel, ;999, Ahite 7 Epston, /009) are being ma!e to use metaphors, myths, archetypes, poetry, heroes, an! stories to !eal "ith the challenges of comple:ity, change, an! chance that their clients face. $n !oing so, they point to a form of reasoning that is !ifferent than the forms that are typical of @scientific psychology.@ The tra!itional forms of reasoning in scientific psychology ha#e been !e!ucti#e reasoning 'syllogistic logic) an! in!ucti#e reasoning 'generali.ing from obser#ation). Ho"e#er, !ra"ing on the "ork of Bateson '/010), Patton an! 2c2ahon '/000) in!icate! that an a!!itional form of problem sol#ing, calle! @ab!ucti#e reasoning.@ shoul! be use!. Fnlike the tra!itional forms of reasoning, ab!ucti#e reasoning is not linear but lateral, it !eals "ith patterns an! relationships an! accepts that all kno"le!ge is open to !oubt an! re#ision an! open to interpretations from !ifferent perspecti#es. $t is often analogical in form, such as techni&ues base! on metaphor an! myths. 6uke '/008) "as one of the earliest researchers to argue that chaos theory can be usefully applie! in psychology, pointing out that its application "as likely to be analogical an! metaphorical in nature. Collo"ing this lea!, "e proffer the follo"ing #ignette to illustrate some of

the ma(or concepts of the

haos Theory of

areers. haos Theory of areers

Ping%Pong Balls an! PuppiesG *n *b!ucti#e $llustration of the

$magine you are in a room alone "ith a Ping%Pong ball. $f you repeate!ly !rop the ball from "aist height, you can be fairly confi!ent of correctly pre!icting that it "ill fall to the groun! some"here near your feet. Ae call this +cenario /. Ho"e#er, suppose no" that an eager ball%chasing puppy is in the room "ith you an! also that a strong electric fan is brought into the room, place! near you, an! s"itche! on. Ho", "hen you !rop the Ping%Pong ball, ho" certain can you be that the ball "ill lan! near your feetB Presumably much less certain, because the puppy might catch it or the fan might blo" it off course. Ae call this +cenario ;. Ho" suppose there is a pack of eager puppies in the room an! a series of electric fans, someone has opene! the "in!o" an! a ho"ling gale is blo"ing, an!, furthermore, you are no" oblige! to stan! on an electric trea!mill programme! to ran!omly #ary its spee!I Ho" "hen you !rop the ball, ho" confi!ent are you that it "ill lan! near your feetB $n!ee!, ho" confi!ent are you in making any pre!iction about "here the ball might en! upB Ae call this +cenario <. $n +cenario /, the system is #ery pre!ictable for t"o reasons. Cirst, the person an! the en#ironment are fairly static an! unchanging. secon!, there are no unplanne! e#ents intru!ing. This is essentially the "orl! as characteri.e! in tra!itional person%en#ironment mo!els of career !e#elopment, such as J. L. Hollan!>s '/001). $n +cenario ;, there is a broa!er range of #ariables "ith the a!!ition of the puppy an! the electric fan, but "e are probably still confi!ent of "orking through most of the possible outcomes. $n career !e#elopment terms, this is not !issimilar to frame"orks such as Gottfre!son>s '/04/), in "hich gen!er, prestige, an! interests are characteri.e! as the key influences on career choice. Aith the @.one of acceptable alternati#es,@ there is a constraine! influence of happenstance ' hen, ;99;). $n +cenario <, there are many !ifferent #ariables to consi!erG Each puppy has a min! of its o"n, the trea!mill is ran!omly programme!, the airflo" is confuse! by the #arious, fans blo"ing, an! the gale force "in!s outsi!e "ill all combine to confoun! our attempts at pre!icting "here the ball "ill go. +uch a scenario is closer in spirit to the "i!e range of influences i!entifie! by -rumbolt. '/004) an! Lent et al. '/005). This scenario also resembles the type of comple: !ynamic system that can be "ell accounte! for in chaos theory 'Pryor 7 Bright, ;99<a). Here is an e:ample "here broa! pre!ictions can be ma!e about the future beha#ior of the room. Cor instance, the ball "ill en! up some"here. $t is highly likely the ball "ill remain in the room, because the gale force "in!s blo"ing in are more po"erful than the fans in the room. +o in the short term, "e can make broa! pre!ictions, but "e are unlikely to be able to make specific an! accurate pre!ictions. $n the longer term, !ue to the characteristics of the system, things coul! alter !ramatically, thereby making pre!iction impossible. Cor instance, if the gale abate!, it is possible the ball "oul! be blo"n out of the room, or a !og "ith the ball in its mouth coul! escape through the open "in!o". $f either of these happene!, the !ynamics of the system "oul! be ra!ically altere!. Either one "oul! ha#e to fin! something other than the ball to !rop or go after the ball 'an! the puppy). +tacey et al. ';999) argue! that chaotic systems are pre!ictable at the global or macro le#el, but only in &ualitati#e terms. $n the short term, they argue!, short%range, micro%le#el pre!ictions might be possible, but these "ill ha#e little or no bearing on long%range pre!ictions. $n +cenario <, in or!er to make accurate long%range pre!ictions, it "oul! be necessary to measure the effect of e#ery minor alteration of the initial state of the person, the trea!mill, the fans, the outsi!e "eather, an! those pesky puppiesI The number of possible "ays that all these states coul! #aryan! the manner in "hich they coul! interact%makes it impractical an! probably impossible to recor!. *rro" et al. ';999) argue! that chaos approaches to pre!iction !iffer in three crucial respects from @positi#istre!uctionist analytic@ approachesG /. The operation of the system is obser#e! in its entirety an! not in terms of the !irectional causal effects of specific in!i#i!ual features. ;. The rules an! principles that go#ern the interaction of in!i#i!ual features are in#estigate!

rather than trying to pre!ict the e:act #alues of specific #ariables. <. The focus of interest is on ho" the system changes o#er time%its tra(ectory%an! not the @a#erage@ le#els of certain #ariables o#er time. $n the career !e#elopment literature, there is e#i!ence that the unpre!ictability of life e:perience !oes influence career paths. Cor instance, 2orrison '/008) foun! that a group of people "ith similar Hollan! co!es !i#erge! in their career paths o#er time in "ays that "ere not pre!ictable from the original !escriptions of their Hollan! types. Bright, Pryor, Ailkenfiel!, et al. 'in press) foun! that 19? of a large sample of uni#ersity stu!ents reporte! that their careers "ere significantly influence! by unplanne! e#ents. These e#ents range! from unplanne! meetings to illness to messages from Go!. $n summary, "hat "e ha#e !escribe! in the Ping%Pong ball analogy is a comple: or chaotic system because it contains the key elements of chaotic systemsG comple:ity, emergence, nonlinearity, unpre!ictability, phase shifts, an! attractors. $n the remain!er of this article, "e highlight ho" these chaotic elements apply to career beha#ior an! suggest ho" they might be use! in counseling. omple:ity an! areer ounseling

areers are influence! by parents, social an! en#ironmental conte:t, gen!er, age, political an! economic climate, interests, abilities, geography, an! many other e#ents 'Patton 7 2c2ahon, /000). *ll of these factors, an! many more, are inherently unpre!ictable an! sub(ect to change. Cor instance, economies can change rapi!ly an! une:pecte!ly, political scan!als can emerge from left fiel! to change the political lan!scape, an! acts of terrorism can ha#e profoun! influences on career beha#ior 'e.g., negati#e impacts on tourism, impacts on the #ictims an! their families an! communities). $n counseling terms, career counselors must take this comple:ity into account an! encourage clients to reflect on the #ariety of influences in their li#es. The emphasis here is on un!erstan!ing processes an! influences an! ho" these ha#e shape! an! continue to shape in!i#i!uals> e:perience of the "orl!. Harrati#e counseling techni&ues emphasi.e the role of story an! construction in un!erstan!ing careers '*mun!son, ;99<a, +a#ickas, /001). Harrati#e pro#i!es a #ehicle for un!erstan!ing the moti#e processes in a person>s career. $t focuses on interests%as un!erstoo! in the "or!>s !eri#ation from @bet"een% being,@%such as those !escribe! by +a#ickas ';99J) in "hich he !escribe! career construction in the follo"ing termsG @E$n!i#i!uals construct their careers by imposing meaning on their #ocational beha#ior an! occupational e:periences@ 'p. 8<). +a#ickas argue! that constructi#ist counseling focuses not on the person or the en#ironment of the person%en#ironment fit, but rather on the @ % % % % @ 'i.e., the series of !ashes) that make up one>s career. +uch an approach is entirely consistent "ith the chaos theory>s emphasis on un!erstan!ing the process an! the patterns in careers rather than on !efining or pre!icting stable #ariables as outcomes. The comple:ity of the influences on career alerts career counselors to the nee! to a#oi! tra!itional approaches of seeking causes or trying to e:plain beha#ior in terms of one factor influencing another factor. Rather, counselors shoul! look at each client in that client>s entirety an! then help the client un!erstan! the patterns an! processes in his or her life. ounselors shoul! not try to @narro" !o"n@ con#ersations to only @career%relate!@ topics. lients shoul! be encourage! to reflect on many !ifferent aspects of their li#es, such as their familial circumstances, their chil!hoo!, their hobbies, their rea!ing, an! key e#ents an! trage!ies, an! on more general en#ironmental factors, such as global political issues an! concerns. lients shoul! be encourage! to reinstate conte:tual factors "hen recalling pre#ious career !ecisions. Techni&ues for "orking "ith clients using these techni&ues can be foun! in Bright an! Pryor ';99<) an! Pryor an! Bright ';99J). Emergence, an! areer ounseling

Essentially, emergence is a process that runs in a counter !irection to re!uctionism '2oro"it., ;99;). The latter, tra!itional, scientific approach is to seek e#er narro"er, more precise e:planations of beha#ior in terms of the nature of the constituent system agents. The problem "ith al"ays looking at finer an! finer !istinctions is that interaction of the components is neglecte!. $n sport, for e:ample, a team of champions is not the same as a champion team. Teams ha#e properties o#er an! abo#e the total of the skills an! performance of in!i#i!ual players. Team"ork, morale, combinations of mo#es, strategies of play, an! so on cannot be

accounte! for by specific reference to each particular team member. *s Polkinghorne ';999) note! about science in general, @there are t"o le#els of !escription. Dne in#ol#es energy an! bits an! pieces. The other in#ol#es the "hole system an! pattern@ 'p. /<J). Emergence in#ol#es going up a le#el or more in !escription to look for patterns of beha#ior that appear to emerge from the comple:ity. $ne#itably, such approaches appear to lack the scientific precision of measurement that is often claime! in re!uctionist approaches, an! the forms of !escription are typically &ualitati#e, such as narrati#e, analogy, an! metaphor. $n such an en!ea#or, the emphasis becomes to !escribe the system beha#ior in "ays that are meaningful to clients at their current stage an! un!erstan!ing of themsel#es, as oppose! to trying to @nail@ the essence of a person or making long%term pre!ictions. $n pursuing this goal, career counselors recogni.e the limitations of their kno"le!ge, in that they can ne#er fully kno" "hat influences a person or ho" that person "ill respon! in the future. Ho"e#er, career counselors can attempt to i!entify some of the emergent patterns of beha#ior an! link these to past career e#ents. $n this "ay, clients can come to a greater un!erstan!ing of ho" their life story is playing out, this, in turn, can pro#i!e them "ith some i!eas for future career e:ploration. Emergence as a counseling process essentially makes sense of the client>s past beha#ior in terms of themes, narrati#es, preoccupations, an! the unpre!ictable nature of a range of influences in the past. The role of counselors in this process is to assist their clients to un!erstan! their career beha#ior an! to highlight the range of influences, inclu!ing happenstance, on their careers. Then, techni&ues for capitali.ing on some of these influences, e#ents, an! themes can be !e#elope! "ith the client 'e.g., -rumbolt. 7 Le#in, ;998). Honlinearity an! areer ounseling

*s J. H. Hollan! '/00J) !emonstrate!, nonlinear e&uations pre#ent the !escription of beha#ior in terms of aggregates or a#erages, because #ery small changes in an input #ariable can lea! to !ramatic changes in the output. This is the essence of nonlinearityG There is potential !isproportion bet"een a change in one part of a comple: system an! its subse&uent effect in another part of the system. +trogat. ';99<) argue! that most things in nature are nonlinear, "hereas linear e&uations ten! to !escribe i!eali.e! situations 'such as somebo!y !ropping a Ping%Pong ball in the absence of any complicating factors like puppies an! fans). +trogat. argue! that @e#ery ma(or unsol#e! problem in science from consciousness to cancer to the collecti#e cra.iness of the economy is non linear@ 'p. /4;). $n nonlinear systems such as career beha#ior, small or seemingly tri#ial e#ents can ha#e significant career implications. Cor e:ample, a young engineer "orking for a construction company has one sick !ay off in the first ; years that he is "ith the company. Ho"e#er, that is the !ay an urgent o#erseas pro(ect meeting is hel!. * team is assemble! from those atten!ing the meeting an! "ithin a fe" !ays is sent to "ork on the pro(ect. +ubse&uently, the pro(ect is a great success, an! all those on the team are promote! ahea! of our only slightly sick, but certainly hapless, young engineer "ho only misse! one meeting. 2emon '/000) recommen!e! that clients be aske! to recall e#erything, no matter ho" tri#ial, "hen the aim is to obtain a full un!erstan!ing of a past e#ent, because it is the seemingly tri#ial that can she! light on the significant subse&uent e#ent. +a#ickas '/001) recommen!e! that counselors listen carefully to the language use! by clients, because language can re#eal important information about their preoccupations an!, hence, ho" they may beha#e in the future. $n chaos theory, the future is conceptuali.e! not principally as some place or time out on the hori.on, rather, the future is essentially an in!i#i!ual>s ne:t thought, "or!, or action. Curthermore, nonlinearity remin!s the counselor that inter#entions !o not nee! to be large, long, or painful to effect change in a client>s career. Honlinearity means that a single "or! may be sufficient to effect change. Cor e:ample, one of the authors of this article "as /8 years ol! "hen, after irritating his high school +panish teacher through classroom misbeha#ior, he "as chastise!, "ith the teacher saying @"hen you go to uni#ersity you "ill not be able to beha#e like that.@ Ha! the teacher sai!, @if you go to uni#ersity,@ it "oul! ha#e ha! little impact. The use of the "or! "hen an! the backhan!e! high e:pectation "ere sufficient to change the /8%year%ol!>s self%efficacy an! e:pectations after ha#ing ne#er consi!ere! himself able to gain entry to college. Fnpre!ictability an! areer ounseling

$n career !e#elopment terms, chance e#ents can an! often !o ha#e significant influences on an in!i#i!ual>s career 'e.g., Bright, Pryor, 7 Harpham, in press, Bright, Pryor, Ailkenfiel!, et al., in press, -rumbolt., /004). areer counselors must encourage clients to e:plore the impact of chance in their careers an! fin! "ays to help clients capitali.e on chance e#ents. *s Gelatt '/00/

) terme! it, they must encourage clients to embrace positi#e uncertainty. -rumbolt. an! Le#in ';998) ha#e set out a series of principles to assist in!i#i!uals to capitali.e on chance e#ents. Helping clients to un!erstan! the uncertain nature of careers can !efinitely be a challenge. Cirst, clients> e:pectations of career counseling typically in#ol#e some notion of the counselor narro"ing !o"n a "i!e array of possible steps or (obs to a manageable fe" options an!, hence in so !oing, re!ucing the uncertainty of the future. onse&uently, attempts by the counselor to increase or un!erline the high le#el of uncertainty in life may be met "ith acti#e resistance or pessimistic fatalism. secon!, "hen clients think of chance e#ents, they ten! to bring to min! situations in "hich they ha#e little or no control o#er the aftermath of the e#ent, such as being in(ure! in a motor #ehicle acci!ent re&uiring a month in hospital. Typically, a client !oes not consi!er the e#ents in "hich he or she has a great !eal of !iscretion o#er the outcome, such as une:pecte!ly meeting someone at a party "ho suggests that the client contact him or her at "ork the follo"ing "eek to !iscuss a (ob opportunity. $n this circumstance, the client has much more !iscretion o#er "hether to capitali.e on this e#ent by making an appointment or failing to !o so by ignoring the in#itation. on#ersely, !iscussing happenstance in a client>s life can often ser#e to rela: him or her an! remo#e the self%impose! bur!en that some clients carry to present all of their career !ecisions an! history in strictly rational terms. Ahen clients present their history in rational terms, they are #ery often o#erlooking or ignoring the chance e#ents, an! the opportunity can be lost to !iscuss strategies to stimulate future positi#e chance e#ents. ounselors might "ish to ask &uestions about unplanne! an! unpre!ictable e#ents "hen asking their clients about their past. They can normali.e chance e#ents by citing statistics that sho" that most people report that chance e#ents ha#e playe! a ma(or role in their life. Curthermore, they coul! "ork "ith clients to !e#elop strategies to capitali.e on chance e#ents in the future 'Pryor 7 Bright, ;99J). Phase +hifts an! areer ounseling

$n the scenarios presente! earlier, a small change in the beha#ior of one of the fans coul! ha#e blo"n the ball out of the room. This coul! change the !ynamics of the system ra!ically. The function of the system, the person>s beha#ior, might change from an in#estigation of gra#ity to a search for a Ping%Pong ball. +imilarly in careers, people can un!ergo ra!ical changes in career !irection. +ometimes, this is cause! by significant e:ternal e#ents such as a ma(or "orkplace in(ury. *lternati#ely, it can be more subtleG Ahen an employee has atten!e! countless pointless meetings pre#iously an! then is calle! on to atten! one more, it may be the @breaking point@ that pro#okes the employee to resign. Fsing *ttracfors in areer onnse.ling

Just as a single (ob in a particular organi.ation can be seen as a single set of interrelate! influences or constraints 'on a system), so, too, the person>s "ork history, or career, can be seen as a more comple: system. *ccor!ing to chaos theory, a common theme is patterns "ithin patterns '-auffman, /00J). Fn!erstan!ing ho" such patterns at !iffering le#els of generality an! comple:ity function has gi#en rise to the a!option of the mathematical notion of @the attractor@ "ithin chaos theory. *ttractors are !escriptions of the constraints on the functioning of a system. They are calle! attractors because they influence beha#ior by !ra"ing it in particular !irections or constraining the beha#ior in some "ay. Cour ma(or types of attractors are generally recogni.e! in chaos theory. Point *ttractor an! areer ounseling

The simplest is the point attractor. The point attractor !escribes beha#ior "hen the ob(ect in &uestion 'a thing or person) is attracte! to one specific thing or point. $n +cenario /, the floor !irectly belo" is a point attractor for the Ping%Pong ballG The ball falls !irectly to the groun! "hen !roppe! 'in the absence of any complicating influences). $n career terms, the point attractor coul! be a particular #ocational goal%such as being promote! to the ne:t le#el in the corporation. Point attractors generally occur "hen the in!i#i!ual or some other agency places artificial constraints on the in!i#i!ual>s beha#ior. Person%en#ironment fit mo!els of career !ecision making 'e.g., 6a"is 7 Lof&uist, /048, J. L. Hollan!, /001) are e:amples of point attractor mo!els. They assume there is an optimal #ocational !irection or space in "hich

personal interests or other personal attributes match suitable (obs. onstraining a client>s beha#ior by imposing a point attractor can be moti#ational 'i.e., by setting a goal), but chaos theory remin!s in!i#i!uals of the nee! to continually re#ise goals as they are seeking to attain them an! also to make alternati#e plans in the e#ent of unforeseen circumstances becoming insuperable barriers to the fulfillment of goals. ounselors shoul! recogni.e the strengths an! "eaknesses of goal%setting beha#ior. Goals ha#e been !emonstrate! to be effecti#e in moti#ating beha#ior, ho"e#er, Lan!y ' /040) pointe! out that e#i!ence for goal setting "as far stronger in laboratory settings than "hen applie! in real% life settings because of the comple: an! unpre!ictable nature of the "orl!. ounselors shoul! be alert for self%limiting beha#iors characteri.e! by setting o#erly narro" or unrealistic goals an! encourage clients to !e#elop resilience strategies or insurance policies to !eal "ith unforeseen future e#ents that pre#ent their reaching their goal. $n a!!ition, reality checking about the true #alue of the goal is a recommen!e! action 'Gelatt, /00/). Pen!ulum *ttractor an! areer ounseling

The secon! form of attractor is calle! the pen!ulum attractor. * pen!ulum attractor constrains beha#ior to a regular, pre!ictable pattern. Beha#ior can mo#e from one e:treme through to a mi!point an! out to an opposite e:treme. The beha#ior then mo#es back to"ar! the mi!point an! out to"ar! the original position. Beha#ior is regular, unchanging, an! !efine!. Pen!ulum attractors might be obser#e! in the career beha#iors of clients "ho are torn bet"een t"o career options. They gra!ually buil! up their !etermination to follo" one course of action, an! then this !etermination gra!ually rece!es to in!ecision an! then to intentions to follo" the alternati#e course of action. $n turn, the strength of this intention "anes back into in!ecision an! ultimately back through to the con#iction to follo" the first course of action. Pen!ulum attractors are a reflection of significant constraints being impose! on career beha#ior, either self%limite! or o#erly narro" thinking, or some e:ternal pressures, such as family pressure to stu!y me!icine combine! "ith an in!i#i!ual interest to pursue psychology. $!entifying the action of the pen!ulum 'also kno"n as perio!ic) attractor is an important first step in un!erstan!ing the nature of the career in!ecision 'Bright, ;99<). The pen!ulum attractor can be seen in clients "ho hol! rigi! an! e:treme beliefs. +uch thinking is generally a barrier to effecti#e thinking an! hence pre#ents insights an! the generation of solutions. ounselors shoul! encourage clients to consi!er issues from multiple perspecti#es, an!, in so !oing, the clients appreciate that the problem is likely not to be re!uce! to a simple eitherKor scenario '*mun!son, ;99<a). lients in the grip of pen!ulum thinking "ill rarely be able to generate "in%"in scenarios, an! furthermore, solutions that present @balance@ as the !esirable outcome may be aggra#ating the situation by attempting to stop the pen!ulum at the lo"est pointI Torus *ttractor an! areer ounseling

The thir! form of attractor is calle! the torus attractor. The torus attractor !escribes beha#ior that is more comple: but that is still ultimately constraine! an! repeating. * client may percei#e that his or her (ob is "ell !escribe! by this attractor. Cor instance, an in!oor nurseryperson pro!uces plants in!oors all year roun!. He or she follo"s routines in terms of planting, nurturing, har#esting, an! selling the plants. This person may see his or her "orl! as pre!ictable an! repetiti#e, ho"e#er, he or she is placing artificial constraints on business as a "ay to beat an inherent unpre!ictabilityG "eather. *lthough the nurseryperson has gone to great lengths to minimi.e unpre!ictability, it cannot be remo#e! entirely an! it takes only a hailstorm to break a greenhouse or a !isease to !e#astate the crop. $n the same fashion, many people e:press feelings of bore!om or frustration "ith "hat they see as en!less routine. $n thinking about their "ork in these constraine! terms, ho"e#er, they may be o#erlooking possibilities an! opportunities for change. This attractor can be the har!est to i!entify in clients an! the har!est to !emonstrate to clients, because the apparent comple:ity of its action ser#es to mask its ultimately boun!e! nature. onse&uently, clients may percei#e their careers as changing an! #arie! "hile at the same time feeling empty or stuck in a rut ' o#ey, ;998). *ppeals to creati#ity, uncertainty, an! further change, as implie! by chaos theory, may be interprete! as more of the same an!, therefore, may be re(ecte!. The challenge here is to i!entify the routine nature of the career as constructe! by the client an! highlight ho" all possibilities "ithin this structure can be ultimately anticipate!. *s a conse&uence, the lack of challenge may be e:pose! an! un!erstoo!. lients may then nee! to be challenge! about the barriers an! constraints that they are placing on initiating phase%shift change in their li#es '*mun!son, ;99<b). *t this point, issues of purpose,

meaning, contribution, an! passion may nee! to be raise! an! confronte! as the !ri#ing forces to moti#ate personal change by the client. +trange *ttractor an! areer ounseling

The strange attractor is the attractor that typically characteri.es chaos mo!els. $t is also the most comple: an! counterintuiti#e. +trange attractors, at one le#el, seem to ha#e no constraints or rules go#erning their !ynamics. $n!ee!, it may appear as though there are no patterns or relationships bet"een their elements. $n this sense, they are chaotic, ho"e#er, o#er time an! "hen consi!ere! from the appropriate perspecti#e, a pattern, albeit e:cee!ingly comple:, can be !iscerne!. $t is characteri.e! as ne#er repeating, but self%similar. The i!entifiable an! psychometrically assesse! skills an! traits of in!i#i!uals are e:amples of such patterns. Ho"e#er, psychologists> limitations in pre!icting specific beha#ior at a particular future time from such assesse! results may o"e as much if not more to the inherent changeability of in!i#i!uals as to the technical limitations of the measuring instruments. hange an! unpre!ictability are constants "ithin the strange attractor. 2inute changes in initial states can result in profoun! nonlinear changes in the beha#ior of the attractor. Curthermore, the strange attractor can reconfigure ra!ically into a !ifferent attractor unpre!ictably an! une:pecte!ly. $n counseling terms, un!erstan!ing a client>s strange attractor in all its comple:ity, stability, an! #ulnerability "ill help both counselor an! client un!erstan! current an! past beha#ior an! help prepare the client for his or her future (ourney. ounselors are increasingly using myths, min! maps, mo#ies, metaphors, pattern i!entification, an! client (ournaling, along "ith narrati#e therapy strategies, to encourage clients to e:plore the or!er an! !isor!er of their e:periences. Cor clients, the goal of counseling is to gain an appreciation of their careers in all of their comple:ity. By recogni.ing the inherently unpre!ictable nature of their careers at !ie micro le#el an! ho" this unpre!ictability can lea! to possibilities at the macro le#el, clients can begin to !e#elop strategies to !eal "ith change an! uncertainty at "ork. +uch strategies might be risk% minimi.ation strategies or more positi#e strategies to embrace an! thri#e on chance an! uncertainty 'Pryor 7 Bright, ;99J). Curthermore, clients can be encourage! to consi!er patterns an! themesan! the rich #ariety of influences upon them%an! ho" small changes to any of these things may lea! to profoun! changes in their careers. ounselors using this approach mo#e a"ay from notions of the i!eal or perfect career an! consi!er clients in their entirety an! in their conte:t in or!er to assist them to !isco#er purpose an! meaning "ithin their o"n frame of reference ' o#ey, ;998). 2c-ay, Bright, an! Pryor 'in press) recently compare! tra!itional traitmatching approaches to career counseling "ith a chaos theory approach. lients "ere ran!omly allocate! to tra!itional, chaotic, an! "ait%list control groups. Dutcome measures "ere use! to assess such #ariables as satisfaction, self%efficacy, career e:ploration, an! irrational career%relate! beliefs before, after, an! / month after the counseling. The chaotic approach "as foun! to be e&ual to or superior to tra!itional counseling an! the control group on all the measures. Ae conclu!e! that approaches using chaos theory that emphasi.e uncertainty, continual change, an! a!aptation ha#e a legitimate role in career counseling an! may be more appropriate an! better recei#e! than the more tra!itional, static, matching approaches. onclusion $n this article, "e ha#e attempte! to in!icate the potential "orth of the haos Theory of areers 'Pryor 7 Bright, ;99<a, ;99<b), "hich may represent a significant !e#elopment in the un!erstan!ing of career beha#ior. The theory !eals "ith reality as in!i#i!uals e:perience it as richly comple:, nonlinear, an! seren!ipitous. Ae belie#e this is "hy "hen "e present chaos theory in presentations or in!i#i!ually in counseling, so many people%professional counselor an! client alike%can i!entify "ith it. haos theory points to some of the neglecte! realities of career !ecision making, such as chance, unpre!ictability, the limits of kno"le!ge at the point of !ecision making, the limitations of goals, an! the nonlinearity of change. The haos Theory of areer 6e#elopment also links career !e#elopment "ith some of the most profoun! thinking in other parts of science 'Pryor 7 Bright, ;998). Ae suspect that this approach is the only theoretically coherent account of chance, the unplanne!, an! seren!ipity in contemporary career !e#elopment theory. The approach is inherently !ynamic in nature an! points to the importance of continual change an! a!aptation in careers, because both the careers of those aroun! us an! the "orl! aroun! us change. %/%

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Publication Information: *rticle TitleG The haos Theory of areersG a Fser>s Gui!e. ontributorsG Jim E. H Bright % author, Robert G. L Pryor % author. Journal TitleG The areer 6e#elopment Luarterly. 3olumeG J<. $ssueG 8. Publication =earG ;99J. Page HumberG ;0/M. N ;99J Hational areer 6e#elopment *ssociation. Pro#i!e! by ProLuest LL . *ll Rights Reser#e!.