Week 6 blog

10/10/12

Admittedly, like many others in our class, it was a bit difficult for me to digest the material in this week’s article, Complexity, Chaos, and Nonlinear Dynamics, by Deborah Bloch (2005).  The easiest part for me to understand and (kind of) relate to is when she discussed the sensitive dependence characteristic of chaos theory: “small change brings about large effects. Within the nonrecurring, nonlinear patterns, small changes may be seen to bring about large effects” (Banks, 2000, as cited in Bloch, 2005, p. 197). In another part of the article, she mentions the butterfly effect, which is a related phenomenon that brought a couple of decent examples to mind. In a general sense, the idea of small, seemingly unconscious actions or decisions having large impacts down the road appeals to my sentimental outlook on life. Take, for example, a teacher or tutor who spends a few extra hours a week with a student who is struggling in math; because of the extra time taken by the adult, that student realizes his love of math, takes and excels in several advanced math classes, and becomes a hugely successful engineer. What might have seemed like an insignificant action to the teacher all those years ago (“It is my job to stay after school & help him”), or even to the student (“I’m struggling with math, so I have to stay after school and get help”), turns out to have significantly altered the course of this individual’s life. E.g., had he not stayed after school on that one week for some extra help, he might not have made the decision to pursue mathematics as far as he did. This applies to career development because, as evidenced in my above example, one small action has the possibility of having significant repercussions on the future of one’s career.

Another part of the article discussed the fact that individuals with point attractor mentalities toward career development only see one possible career choice and one possible way to get there (Bloch, 2005). It makes sense to me that, since point attractors tend to put blinders on the individuals, these people would only see what they want to see, so to speak. This kind of focused attention, while beneficial in some respects, could potentially be detrimental to one’s career path because one might be so hyper-focused on attaining one particular position in one particular way that s/he may end up disregarding other events that could have opened doors for other (possibly better/more beneficial) opportunities.

Bloch, D.P. (2005). Complexity, chaos, and nonlinear dynamics: A new perspective on career development theory. The Career Development Quarterly, (53), p. 194-207.