6 Module Hybrid Course

The Complexity Code

Influence at the Edge of Chaos

Most leaders today are navigating 21st-century challenges with 20th-century mental models. They keep trying to find stand-alone, technical solutions to complex and highly networked adaptive challenges. While complexity science has revolutionized fields from biology to economics, mainstream leadership development remains stuck in linear thinking.

This program changes that.

Course Modules

Module 1: Seeing the Invisible – Reorienting to Systems and Complexity

Like learning to see the mycorrhizal networks that connect forest ecosystems, you'll develop perception for the hidden patterns and interdependencies that shape our world. Learn to recognize the signals of complexity, map adaptive systems, and shift from reactive problem-solving to systemic sensemaking.

Module 2: Self and System - The Inner Game of Complexity Leadership

Just as a tree's health affects the entire forest network, your inner state influences every system you touch. This module focuses on cultivating somatic awareness, emotional resilience, and developmental maturity to lead from optimal states during uncertainty and high-stakes moments.

Module 3: It's All Connected – The Power of Relational Systems Awareness

In nature, relationship is structure. Explore how networks, feedback loops, and invisible webs of connection shape outcomes—from coral reef ecosystems to organizational cultures—and how to work with them to foster collective intelligence and emergence.

Module 4: Herding Butterflies – Practical Strategies for Leverage and Influence

You can't force a river to flow, but you can remove the obstacles. This module offers biomimetic strategies for finding leverage points, designing safe-to-fail experiments, and influencing systems through connection and emergence rather than force and control.

Module 5: The Dao of Complexity – Ancient Wisdom for Modern Leaders

Indigenous cultures and contemplative traditions understood living systems long before we had complexity science. Explore timeless principles—from Taoism to Indigenous worldviews—that deepen your capacity to act wisely within the web of relationships that sustain all life.

Module 6: Positive Deviance – Leading from the Emerging Future

In ecosystems, innovation emerges at the edges where different environments meet. Learn to spot and support the subtle innovations already breaking through in your system, align with evolutionary purpose, and lead change that is both grounded and visionary.

Why This Program Exists

On the Trail of Wise Practice

We stand at a species-level inflection point—what may be the most significant liminal moment in the human story. The convergence of ecological collapse, technological acceleration, and social upheaval reveals the profound inadequacy of our existing paradigms.

We possess unprecedented knowledge, technology, and resources. We can sequence genomes, harness renewable energy, and connect instantly across continents. Yet we remain mysteriously unable to address our most pressing challenges—not because we lack solutions, but because we lack the collective capacity to implement them.

This is not an information problem. It is a wisdom problem. We know what needs to be done but cannot free ourselves from the patterns that created our current crises. We have the means but not the integrated capacity to act on what we know. We remain trapped in ways of thinking, being, and relating that were never designed for the complexity we face.

Beyond Traditional Leadership

The Ecology of Influence

At the intersection of personal mastery, organizational transformation, and ecological awareness lies a critical intelligence - Complexity Consciousness. This isn't another leadership methodology or management framework. It's the foundational ground of being that enables leaders to see patterns others miss, influence webs of relationship others can't perceive, and create change that actually sustains itself—like a healthy ecosystem.

This immersive experience develops three core capacities that distinguish complexity-fluent leaders:

  1. Systemic Perception: The capacity to see the invisible patterns, properties, connections, and leverage points that drive real change across living systems

  2. Embodied Presence: Cultivating the inner meta-skills needed to lead from optimal states in real-world, high-pressure contexts

  3. Applied Wisdom: Integrating timeless principles with cutting-edge science to lead more skillfully and act more creatively within uncertainty

Format & Details

  • This program attracts leaders who sense that something fundamental has shifted in how the world works—and who are ready to evolve their approach accordingly.

    You might be:

    • A senior executive whose traditional strategies aren't generating the results they used to

    • An entrepreneur or innovator tackling challenges that resist conventional problem-solving

    • A change agent working at the intersection of multiple systems and stakeholder groups

    • An emerging leader who wants to develop capabilities for an uncertain, interconnected future

    • A seasoned professional ready to integrate your experience with deeper systemic understanding

  • Format: Six intensive modules delivered over 4 months through a carefully designed blend of:

    • Weekly, pre-recorded complexity microdoses with faculty and special guests

    • Real-world application projects where you test frameworks in your actual leadership context

    • Peer learning partnerships that extend between sessions with a skilled facilitator

    • Somatic and contemplative practices for embodied integration

    • Ongoing integration support through digital platforms and micro-learning experiences

    • Live office hours with Julian Norris and special guests

  • This is not:

    • A quick-fix leadership hack or technique-based training

    • Designed for leaders who prefer certainty and control-based approaches

    • About optimizing existing systems rather than transforming them

    • A theoretical exploration—it requires real-world application and personal practice

    • For those seeking immediate, measurable ROI in traditional business metrics

    This is:

    • A foundational recalibration of how you understand and practice leadership

    • For leaders ready to work with uncertainty as a creative force

    • About developing capacities that improve everything else you do

    • A practice-based immersion requiring ongoing inquiry and experimentation

    • An investment in long-term adaptive capacity and systemic impact

    • Way more than professional development. It's an initiation into the kind of leadership our world actually needs.

  • Your Cohort: You'll join a carefully curated group of 20-25 leaders from diverse sectors, creating a learning ecosystem that continues beyond the formal program.

    Faculty Team: Learn from practitioners who bridge complexity science, deep wisdom traditions, and real-world leadership experience.

Join Us Spring 2026

The next cohort begins in the Spring of 2026. Registration will open late fall.

Spaces are limited to a cohort size of 25. Please indicate your interest to hold a space in line.