Thank you for signing up for my substack. I will be using this email newsletter to communicate about my forthcoming book, Out of Control: Enabling Emergent Order in Public Policy and Private Life. Here is a short description of the book:
The world, and our lives, continue to grow more complex. Seeking order in the face of this complexity, we’ve become obsessed with getting control of ourselves, of our jobs, and of our time. CEOs want to control their companies; politicians and policymakers want to control the economy. Recently, everyone is trying to get the COVID-19 pandemic under control.
Yet we are surrounded by order that emerges without design or control. Most complex systems - from ant colonies to our brains, cities, and economies - are stable and productive without anyone being in control. In fact, unwise attempts to control such systems can destroy them.
This book argues that the best response to complexity is an emergent mindset that seeks opportunities to “get out of control.” This mindset is straightforward but challenging to adopt. It requires us to embrace our autonomy as individuals yet admit our limitations as part of something bigger. This book offers a new perspective on the challenges and opportunities of governance in an age of complexity. And it will help you understand why we so often fail to improve ourselves and how to adapt to that.
In an age of increasing complexity, our hope lies not in gaining control, but in relying on emergent order to help us understand ourselves and our world better and react appropriately. So, how about it? Are you ready to get out of control?
I’ll be using this newsletter to occasionally drop news about the book, share thoughts about the process of writing, and to ask for feedback. I’m grateful you’ve joined me on this journey. Here we go….