Org Design in Practice
Living and Leading Through Uncertainty:
The Inner Work of Thriving in a Complex World
Kevin Anderson – Dr. Organizational Design
Kevin Anderson is an organizational design practitioner with more than three decades of experience working across public, nonprofit, and governmental organizations, as well as large, complex enterprises. He brings deep expertise in organization design, performance, leadership, and large-scale change, having led OD, culture, and leadership development efforts for organizations including Cargill, the City of Minneapolis, Thomson Reuters, and various consulting clients. Kevin holds a Doctorate in Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development and is the author of Organization Design Made Easy and The New Workplace: Performance Through Virtual and Hybrid Teams both published on Amazon. Since the capacity to adapt to complexity already exists within individuals and teams, Kevin approaches his work as a facilitator who helps participants rediscover and unleash their own “complexity genius,” drawing on lessons learned over a 30-year career navigating complexity to create more effective, efficient, and meaningful workplace experiences. Kevin can be reached at: https://
How we can move beyond merely coping with life and organization design complexity to truly thriving within it? By tapping into our innate “complexity genius”—the natural capacity we all possess to navigate uncertainty with creativity, calm, and confidence. Through experiential learning and reflection, you’ll gain practical tools to transform anxiety into creativity, strengthen collaboration, and build the adaptive capacity needed to continuously evolve in today’s ever-changing world.
This highly interactive workshop unfolds in three acts:
Part I – Understanding What It Means to Thrive in Complexity
We begin by exploring what it truly means to thrive in complexity, drawing on the research of Jennifer Garvey Berger and Carolyn Coughlin. You’ll be introduced to core ideas and practical tools you can begin using right away.
Part II – Practicing Complexity in Action
Next, you’ll bring these concepts to life through experiential breakout exercises connected to your own work and organization design challenges. Together, we’ll experiment with practices such as noticing mind traps, active experimentation, and even connecting through laughter—yes, laughter. It’s energizing, memorable, and surprisingly powerful.
Part III – Reflecting and Integrating the Learning
We’ll close by reflecting on what we experienced and translating those insights into practical ways to meet real-world life and work complexity with greater creativity, resilience, and confidence.
These practices help shift anxiety and overwhelm into energy and innovation—so we don’t just survive complexity, but truly flourish within it.