‘I find the ideas in the fractals, both as a body of knowledge and as a metaphor, an incredibly important way of looking at the world.’ Vice President and Nobel Laureate Al Gore, New York Times, Wednesday, June 21, 2000.
Syndicated cartoonist (of Loose Parts comic fame) and author, Dave Plazek followed up with his graphic interpretation of these airborne, quasi-archetypes – very funny.
I am fascinated by fractals. I was first smitten by fractals through world-champion magician, Lennart Green who applied it in a few of his amazing card tricks. Fractals are nature’s mathematical anomalies and phenomenon and as such, we can explore them as an additional set of lenses for which to view the world – with a sense of awe, wonder and respect.
A fractal is "a rough or fragmented geometric shape that can be split into parts, each of which is (at least approximately) a reduced-size copy of the whole," a property called self-familiarity. Fractals in nature comprise coastlines, mountain ridges, clouds, snowflakes, certain vegetables and lightning bolts.
Fractal geometry is a new way of looking at the world; we have been surrounded by natural patterns, unsuspected but easily recognized with some training and mind shifting. Think of a mosaic picture, except this time, it is made up of multiple, smaller, copies of itself – that’s the starting point of fractal geometry; a giant Lego ‘brick’ composed of numerous, smaller bricks. The image through the eye of a kaleidoscope is another variation (radiation of the same basic shape/image).
Fold a piece of paper currency in half, then in half again. How many times can you fold that bill until it is impossible to continue? It is a physical law that explains why we cannot go beyond an exact number. Each fold divides the original bill into fractions, which is a synthetic fractal. Lateral thinking exercises involve fractal geometry. For example, cut out an L-shape piece of paper. Now divide it equally into four equal parts. I am sure you will figure this out, and your solution will surprise you!
Having spent the last two months traveling extensively for work and vacation, I was triggered to read Guy Kawasaki’s (we interviewed him in March and did a book review of his latest book, Enchantment) recommended blog about air passengers. You could take this as a tongue-in-cheek approach, or wallow in your next airline experience and edit your observations.
Peggy Goldman writes about the stereotypes on Friendly Planet.
Leadership Lessons: How have you utilized fractals at your workplace? How familiar are you with patterns of behavior of people you work with? How symmetrical are we when we comply with rules and conventions at the workplace? How much does symmetry matter when you enforce and live with discipline? How do your little actions add up to the gestalt of your entire being as a professional and a person?
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