Navigating the Age of Chaos: A Sense-Making Guide to a BANI World That Doesnt Make Sense

by Jamais Cascio, Bob Johansen, Angela F. Williams

Overview

Transform chaos into opportunity. This groundbreaking framework helps leaders navigate uncertainty, build organizational resilience, and create positive change in turbulent times.

The world we once described as volatile and uncertain has shifted into something far more chaotic: BANI, or brittle, anxious, nonlinear, and incomprehensible. In Navigating the Age of Chaos, Jamais Cascio, the originator of the groundbreaking BANI framework, unpacks the tools and perspectives needed to navigate our increasingly turbulent era.

Joined by coauthors Bob Johansen and Angela Williams, Cascio provides real-world examples, practical strategies, and visionary insights to help leaders, organizations, and individuals not just survive but thrive in the chaos.

Breaking down the BANI framework, readers will discover how to tackle each aspect of a BANI world:

• Brittle—Recognize fragility in systems and strategies to build resilience.
• Anxious—Address widespread anxiety with empathy and attentiveness.
• Nonlinear—Navigate unpredictable scenarios with adaptive thinking.
• Incomprehensible—Find clarity in overwhelming complexity.
• Positive BANI—Reframe chaos into actionable opportunities for growth.

As a definitive guide to understanding and harnessing the power of the BANI framework, this book equips readers with the knowledge to reshape challenges into pathways for innovation and success.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798890571212
Publisher:	Berrett-Koehler Publishers
Publication date:	10/28/2025
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Jamais Cascio, the originator and developer of the BANI framework, is a highly regarded futurist and keynote speaker who has spent the majority of his life exploring the connections between human culture, technological transformation, environmental change, and political disruption. Foreign Policy has listed him in its Top 100 Global Thinkers.

Bob Johansen has had a fifty-year career as a professional futurist at the Institute for the Future and is an author of over a dozen books, including Leaders Make the Future and Full-Spectrum Thinking.

Angela Williams is president and CEO of United Way Worldwide, with more than thirty years of leadership experience in the nonprofit and corporate sectors.

Editorial Reviews

In an era of global uncertainty, this work is an essential guide for leaders striving to create lasting impact and lead with purpose, resilience, and a global mindset.”
—Kerry Kennedy, President, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights

“In this insightful book, the authors provide us with not just a framework for understanding but also a roadmap to negotiate this disrupted world characterized by constant change, complexity, and uncertainty.”
—Simon Freakley, Executive Chairman, Alix Partners

“The BANI future will be incomprehensible, but we still must act, and this brilliant, provocative, and compelling book will help us prepare for and thrive in the looming, chaotic future.”
—Robert Ivany, Major General (retired), US Army, and Commandant, Army War College during 9/11

“We live in a moment of huge conflicting forces creating a highly uncertain future. Creating clarity out of chaos is the ambitious goal set by this insightful and practical guide to the turbulent future immediately at hand.”
—Peter Schwartz, author of The Art of the Long View and Senior VP, Strategic Planning, Salesforce

“Thriving in the BANI future will require us all to hone personal coping skills, and this book provides a vital jumpstart.”
—Judith T. Moskowitz, Professor, Medical Social Sciences, Northwestern University

“The authors present an essential perspective on how to tackle complex challenges using pragmatic and practical insights—an indispensable work for thriving in today’s chaotic world.”
—Simon Brown, Global Learning & Development Leader and Partner, EY

“This seminal work is a textbook outlining the challenges that await us in the age of chaos, and a workbook offering coping skills for survival.”
—Edwin J. Nichols, Director, Nichols & Associates

“A crucial guide offering an essential framework for leaders and innovators seeking a guide for action in times of rapid change.”
—Kevin Clark, Federation Leader & President, Content Evolution LLC

From the Publisher