In the Trenches: Chaos Breeds Creativity

In the Trenches: Chaos Breeds Creativity 

By Susan Nardi

Coming home from the RSPA World Racquets Conference, I kept thinking about one word:

Change.

Our industry is changing. Tennis is changing. Pickleball has changed the racquet-sports landscape. Padel is emerging onto the scene. Clubs are changing. Teaching professionals are changing. Consumers are changing. Technology is changing. Expectations are changing. And organizations like the RSPA are changing along with all of us.

Change is hard.

It can be uncomfortable. It can create uncertainty. Sometimes it can even feel chaotic.

My aunt, Dr. Helen Harkness, founder of Career Design Associates, spent her career helping people navigate change. She had a phrase that has stayed with me throughout my life: My aunt didn’t just talk about navigating chaos—she challenged her clients, and me, to use it. One of the ways she taught us to do that was simple: learn one new skill every year that could expand your career. 

I took that advice seriously. 

Many of the different areas I have worked in throughout my career didn’t happen by accident. They came from deliberately continuing to learn, adding new skills, stepping into unfamiliar spaces, and refusing to let my career become too comfortable.

That was Aunt Helen’s way of turning the tables on chaos.

Instead of waiting for change to dictate what came next, she taught us to prepare for change by continually expanding what we were capable of doing. 

And I think that lesson matters enormously in our industry today.

The question isn’t simply, What is changing around me?

It is also those words seem especially appropriate for our industry right now.

When the familiar starts disappearing, our first reaction can be to protect what we know. We can complain about what has changed. We can talk about how things used to be. We can stand on the sidelines and point out everything we believe someone else is doing wrong.

But standing on the sidelines has never moved an industry forward. 

Participation does.

Conversation does.

Connection does.

And yes, sometimes disagreement does.

If we care about where the RSPA is going, then we need to be part of where the RSPA is going. 

That means showing up.

It means serving on committees. Attending conferences. Participating in education. Calling another professional. Introducing ourselves to someone we don't know. Sharing ideas. Asking questions. Listening to answers—even when they aren't the answers we expected.

It means doing something I believe our entire industry needs to do much better: 

Stay connected with each other.

Sometimes we become so consumed with our own clubs, programs, lessons, facilities, businesses, and schedules that we forget how valuable our professional community really is.

One of the best parts of a conference isn't always what happens on the stage.

Sometimes it happens in the hallway.

At breakfast.

Walking between sessions. 

Walking between sessions.

Seeing a friend and getting a hug.

Sitting next to someone you've known for 20 years.

Or meeting someone you've never spoken to before.

Those conversations matter.

We need more of them. 

We need coaches talking with club owners. Directors talking with young professionals. Tennis professionals talking with pickleball professionals. Industry veterans talking with the next generation.

And we need to become comfortable having conversations with people who don't always agree with us.

There's an important difference between disagreeing with someone and being disagreeable.

We can challenge an idea without attacking the person who presented it. 

We can question a decision without questioning someone's character.

We can have different visions for the future and still shake hands afterward.

In fact, some of the best ideas in our industry will probably come from people sitting on opposite sides of an issue who are willing to stay at the table long enough to understand one another.

That's how organizations improve.

That's how professions improve.

That's how industries improve.

The RSPA belongs to its professionals. 

But membership cannot simply mean having three or four letters after our names.

An association becomes stronger when its members participate in it.

If we want better education, get involved in education.

If we want stronger leadership, develop leaders.

If we want more opportunities for women, young professionals, adaptive coaches or emerging racquet sports, step forward and help create them.

If something concerns us, don't just complain about it in the parking lot.

Bring the conversation into the room. 

Because change is coming whether we participate in it or not.

The real question is whether we choose to help shape it.

There will be moments of uncertainty ahead for our industry. There will be ideas that work and ideas that don't. There will be disagreements. There will probably be a little chaos.

Maybe that's not something we should fear. Maybe that's exactly where creativity begins.

As Dr. Helen Harkness reminded us:

“Chaos breeds creativity.” 

So instead of retreating to what is familiar, let's move toward one another.

Talk more.

Listen more.

Participate more.

Connect more.

Disagree when necessary—but never become disagreeable.

And most importantly, get off the sidelines.

Because the future of this industry isn't something that is simply going to happen to us.

It's something we're going to build together. Onwards to our 100th Anniversary in Orlando 2027