Anyone preparing students and even adults for the workplace and all facets of life need to read Kegan’s book on surviving in a very complex society. Kegan is probably familiar to many of you as he authored The Evolving Self, which is often used in education and career courses. The expectations we place upon ourselves are frightening even without considering those placed on us by others. The demands we face – the shear complexity – at work, at home and in the community, requires us to engage in more demanding mental exercises. Unfortunately our education system functions in a linear mode rather than in complex systems. After laying out the transition from concrete learning to abstract systems – a careful theory based approach – he examines how the mental demands play out in our private and public lives. A warning this is not the easiest book to read; however, it should be mandatory.