Are you leading a muppet show?

Your fundraising team needs both order and chaos to thrive in a complex world. Here’s a way to find the right blend.

Full confession: I’m a Chaos Muppet. A full-bore, scribble-on-the-whiteboard, 10-ideas-before-coffee type, who compulsively colors outside the lines. But the older and (hopefully) wiser I get, the more I appreciate how much I rely on the Order Muppets in my life. Without them, nothing ships, no deadlines get met, and none of my wacky ideas ever actually land in the world.

At the Bridge Conference, we led a session grounded in Muppet Theory, the idea that humanity is divided into Order Muppets (e.g. Kermit, Bert) and Chaos Muppets (e.g. Grover, Cookie Monster). Behind the playful context of muppets is a serious message: That in our complex and unpredictable world, our teams need to blend chaos energy and order energy to succeed.

Here’s a brief DIY so you can try this with your team. Whether you’re running a national nonprofit or wrangling the chaos of your development department, it will surface the mix of cognitive styles you’re working with, and why that mix matters more than ever.

Complexity Demands More Than Competence

In a simpler world, you could hand the reins to a single smart, capable leader and be done with it. But as Jennifer Garvey Berger reminds us, “In a complex world… it takes a collective sharing of power, creativity, and perspectives to become agile and nuanced enough to lead into the uncertain future.”

In fundraising, the goalposts are moving. Donors are shifting. Channels are multiplying. Budgets are tight. And we’re all being asked to do more with less.

Meet the Muppets: A Taxonomy of Cognitive Styles

Chaos Muppets:

• Are creative, outside-the-box thinkers
  
• Adapt quickly to change
  
• Tend to be charismatic and passionate
  
• Love the big idea 

But Chaos Muppets are also:

• Prone to poor follow-through
  
• Miss critical details
  
• Impatient with process
  

Order Muppets:

• Build systems and processes
  
• Are reliable and organized
  
• Turn visions into actionable plans
  
• Maintain quality and consistency 

But Order Muppets also:

• Can be resistant to change
  
• Can be risk-averse
  
• Can become micromanage-y under stress

Here’s the punchline: both types are essential. But if you don’t understand the mix on your team (or worse, if you unintentionally suppress one style in favor of the other), you risk dysfunction, resentment, and missed opportunities.

The Muppet Mapping Exercise

This session worked well in a room full of leaders at Bridge. You can adapt it for your next team retreat or even a Friday lunch hour.

Step 1: Name Your Muppet

• Share the definitions and then go around the room and ask: Are you more of a Chaos Muppet or an Order Muppet?
• Let people self-identify, then pair up and share what that’s like for them. 

Step 2: Scenario Play

• Split into mixed teams of Chaos and Order types.
  
• Pose this challenge:
  “Sesame Street is facing major budget cuts. You have 15 minutes to come up with a bold, urgent fundraising campaign. The Board is waiting. YOU HAVE 15 MINUTES”
• Here’s the twist: play the opposite of your usual type. Chaos folks become Order. Order folks embrace the Chaos.
  
• Afterward, debrief: How did it go? What surprised you? What did you learn about how you approach creative tension?

Step 3: Debrief Together

Ask:

• What do you notice about your team’s natural style balance?
  
• Where does your team get stuck—too much Order? Too much Chaos?
  
• What structures could you introduce to honor both creative freedom and follow-through?
  

This isn’t about labeling people or “fixing” anyone. It’s about noticing, honoring differences, and designing ways of working that allow your team to do what today’s complex world demands: hold multiple truths, navigate uncertainty, and stay aligned while surfing the chaos.

Because the truth is, if you want to save Sesame Street—or your next campaign—you’ll need the passion of Grover and the checklist of Kermit.