Unleash Your Complexity Genius: Growing Your Inner Capacity to Lead (The Stanford Briefs)

What a treat to read this book and in many ways feel the nervous system settle a little bit word by word. Jennifer and Carolyn offer a brilliant invitation for us to go beyond what is traditionally defined as "genius" and tap into even more of the genius within each of us. I love the idea of "creating the conditions" for many things, but in particular for others to be seen. This book is packed with so many practical, straightforward, and useful experiments to enable all of us to navigate complexity with a little more ease than before.

It captures the essence of leadership today and encourages you to do what you probably always wanted to do but we’re scared to. Enjoy.

Absolutely loved reading this book. It is a unique combination of great (and funny!) story telling, deep insight and practical wisdom to develop natural ease and even joy in the face of complexity. Great suggestions for experimentation on the job that will change the dynamic and increase confidence of the leader. Better engagement, higher wellbeing and safer conditions for people to show up fully as themselves (and thus do their best work!) may be just some of the results of consistent practice.

The book helps us see how different parts of our nervous system are taking care of us. It uses language and examples that I can relate to (i.e. not overly technical or too woo-woo). Moreover, the book suggests practical ways to channel and use our parasympathetic nervous system - enabling us to show up more fit for the complex and unpredictable parts of our lives at work, at home, and in the community.I appreciate the accessible style, the many different examples, and the line-up of the complexity genius practices (called GEMs). They form a solid curriculum, complementing other simple habits for complex times that Jennifer e.a. wrote about. The footnotes give plenty of extra relevant resources too. Jennifer and Carolyn’s crisp writing, peppered throughout with mild irony, create a beautiful signature dish for those with an appetite for their developmental work.

This book is a GEM, with a lot of wisdom distilled into nuggets of truly helpful guidance on leading, and living, more thoughtfully and more authentically in this increasingly complex world. It has given me language for ( and an opportunity to notice) my action impulse, which can be helpful sometimes, and a real problem other times. I will be recommending (and buying) this book for my colleagues who are leaders in organizations, as well as for friends and family as we seek to lead our lives with more wisdom and peace.