During my first experience with Outward Bound, between rowing sets on a gear raft in Utah’s Cataract Canyon, Course Director Paul Duba told me the OB recipe: “Select ten strangers,” he said, “remove social dependencies, include unusual and stressful circumstances, add skills and learning opportunities, sprinkle in some natural grandeur, a soupcon of skilled instructors, and carefully let simmer; skim off the fat and deep-freeze until needed.”

I know this recipe, but I know it to be more complex. Success requires months of preparation to establish and refine course itineraries, manage external relationships, develop emergency response plans, maintain trip budgets, secure user-day permits, and create evaluation feedback systems. Success, furthermore, requires leadership in empowering field staff with the skills and tools to do their jobs well.

In normal life, can we look to a simplistic recipe, or are we better off acknowledging the real complexity?