Getting Out Of Control: Emergent Leadership in a Complex World

by Neil Chilson

In an age of increasing complexity, our hope as leaders lies not in gaining control, but in relying on emergent order.

Most leadership books promise to help you get control of your business, your career, and your life. In Getting Out of Emergent Leadership in a Complex World , Neil Chilson flips this formula on its head.

Emergent order—order with no single individual or entity in control—surrounds us. From ant colonies to our brains, cities, and economies, emergent order sustains powerful and complex systems that no one designed and no one controls. Awash in this complexity, we have less control than we imagine or wish. Chilson explains how this emergent order confounds managers who grasp for control but holds great promise for leaders willing to adopt an emergent mindset.

Getting Out of Control explains why effective leaders seek to influence rather than to control. Chilson offers real-world examples of successful and failed leadership from Washington, D.C.‘s halls to Silicon Valley’s workstations. He distills six principles of the emergent mindset to help leaders in public, corporate, or private life maximize their influence and avoid the pointless pursuit of control in this complex, out-of-control world.

296 pages, Paperback

Published September 22, 2021

Reviews

[John Hassmann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started off really solid, but got progressively worse and more divergent. The more the book veered into public policy and not leadership, the more it seemed like he was just a political mouthpiece for the Koch brothers. The ideas in the first few chapters are 4-5 star, so I’m curious what the book would have been like if he had stayed on topic and true to his thesis.

[Taylor Barkley · Rating 5 out of 5]

My friend and colleague wrote a great book. It has political philosophy, self help, economics, philosophy, science, tech policy, and auto biography. Something for everyone! It really comes together.

[Mick Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anyone who seeks a better understanding of the complex world around them, and who would like to improve how they respond to that complexity, will gain insight from this book. This is a book about everything, and Neil Chilson does a great job weaving together history, philosophy, biology, policy, technology and other words that end in why.

[Nelson Rosario · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a gem. If you ever wanted a framework for thinking through complex problems and systems, look no further.