Excellence at the Edge of Chaos | Art Wilson | TEDxNebraska Wesleyan University
What if the skills forged in chaos aren’t flaws to fix, but the strengths our brittle systems need?Art Wilson knows chaos intimately. He’s lived through homelessness, addiction, and incarceration—and discovered something most leaders miss: excellence doesn’t live in the safe center. It’s born at the edge of chaos, where complexity scientists say we're most adaptive.Through raw, lived stories, Art reveals how chaos trains the skills most organizations and communities desperately need: rapid trust-building, instant threat assessment, and finding resources where others see nothing. He explores the “edge of chaos”, that fertile zone between order and disorder where innovation and resilience emerge.This talk challenges everything we believe about stability and success. Why do systems built for perfect order shatter under pressure, while those built for the edge bend, adapt, and grow stronger?
Art Wilson brings lived experience from both sides of this edge, from years of homelessness, addiction and incarceration to an MBA and leadership in nonprofits and business. Drawing on work in shelters, prisons and reentry programs, he offers a clear systems lens for staying adaptive without losing structure. He is a graduate of Nebraska Wesleyan. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx
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