— Education & Courses
Learn to Lead at the Edge of Chaos
Butterfly Boardroom education helps business owners and leadership teams apply chaos-aware thinking to real decisions. The learning moves from concept to observation, from observation to experiment, and from experiment to a new operating habit.
“The best framework is not the one you understand once. It is the one that changes what you notice, discuss and do every week.”
— Ready Today
Available Now
Four ways to start applying the framework before the course library launches.
The Book
The Butterfly in the Boardroom
Begin with the complete framework, stories and practical operating principles.
Free Chapter
Chapter 1: The Weather Report You Never Trusted
Discover why the maze is not a failure of planning. The maze is the territory.
Seminars & Workshops
Bring the Framework to Your Room
A tailored learning experience for your leadership team, company, association or event.
Private Education
Private Executive Education
A custom briefing or facilitated series exploring the framework inside your organization's current challenges.
— Building Now
Courses in Development
Self-paced and cohort-based programs are being developed. None are open for enrollment yet — join the waitlist and you'll be the first to know when a program, date or format is confirmed.
Coming Soon
Edge of Chaos Foundations
A practical introduction to business as a complex system and the shift from controlling the future to navigating it.
Coming Soon
Initial Conditions for Leaders
How hiring, onboarding, first agreements, early precedents and initial responses shape long-term outcomes.
Coming Soon
The Fractal Organization
A guided Zoom Test for aligning values, systems and everyday behavior across the company.
Coming Soon
Designing for Turbulence
A working system for rolling plans, early feedback, reversible moves, modular structure and small strategic bets.
Coming Soon
The Attractor Change Lab
A deeper program for leaders who want to identify and shift the gravitational center of their culture and decisions.
Coming Soon
Reading the Growth Curve
A strategic course for diagnosing plateaus, identifying bifurcation points and preparing the next curve.
— Leadership Reviews
What Leaders Are Saying
“Derek is one of those people who makes you think a little harder about how you lead. His writing comes from actually running a company, getting things wrong, learning, adjusting, and doing the work for decades.”
Tanu Tiwari
Invisible Lessons
“Derek brings decades of leadership experience, but what I appreciate most is his curiosity about how decisions, culture and systems actually play out once real people get involved. His writing is practical, grounded and built from experience.”
David Kraase
The Context Engine
“Sound organizational leadership advice on how to create the conditions for success.”
Robert Mixon
All-In Adaptive Leadership Insights
— The Approach
How the Learning Is Designed
- Plain-English explanations of complex ideas.
- Examples grounded in operating businesses, projects and leadership decisions.
- Diagnostic questions that reveal the learner's current system.
- Short experiments instead of oversized transformation plans.
- Tools that can be reused in leadership meetings and team discussions.
- A focus on observation, feedback and adjustment rather than perfect prediction.
— Pilots & Cohorts
For Individuals and Teams
Future programs will support individual leaders as well as team-based learning. Organizations interested in early pilots, custom cohorts or private education can use the form below.
— Book Reviews
What Readers Are Saying
“What I appreciated most about this book is Derek Wilder’s ability to take something as complex as chaos theory and make it genuinely useful for leaders.”
TT_25
Amazon review · Paperback, Verified Purchase
“Whether you have been in business for 10, 20, or 30 years, or are just starting out, this book will help you re-align your thoughts and procedures for success.”
Kim K
Amazon review · Paperback, Verified Purchase
“Wilder’s understanding of chaos theory and how to lean into it is most refreshing and transformational… Wish I had this resource earlier in my career.”
Joey M.
Amazon review · Kindle
— Stay Informed
Get Course Updates
Join the list for new resources, course announcements and practical insights from the Butterfly Boardroom framework. No course dates or enrollment windows will be announced until the programs are ready.
Leadership Review
“Useful if you’re the one running things.”
— William J. Maggio, Leading in the Age of Algorithms
— Why This Is Different
What Sets This Education Apart
Most leadership training teaches a method and hopes it fits. This education starts from how complex organizations actually behave, then applies that thinking to your own decisions.
Chaos-aware thinking for real decisions
The framework applies chaos-aware thinking directly to the decisions business owners and leadership teams face, not to abstract theory.
Concept, observation, experiment
The learning moves from concept to observation, and from observation to experiment, so ideas are tested in your business instead of just discussed.
Taught inside your own challenges
Private executive education is a custom briefing or facilitated series that explores the framework inside your organization's current challenges.
Tailored, not off the shelf
Seminars and workshops are shaped for your leadership team, company, association or event.
A working system, not just ideas
The framework includes practical tools such as the Zoom Test, rolling plans, early feedback, reversible moves, modular structure and small strategic bets.
Start with the complete framework
The book gives you the full framework, stories and practical operating principles, and Chapter 1 is free to read before you decide.
Frequently Asked Questions About Education
Who is Butterfly Boardroom education for?
It is for business owners and leadership teams who want to apply chaos-aware thinking to real decisions. Future programs will support individual leaders as well as team-based learning.
What learning options are available now?
Available now are seminars and workshops, private executive education, the book The Butterfly in the Boardroom, and a free download of Chapter 1.
What are the seminars and workshops?
Seminars and workshops are a tailored learning experience for your leadership team, company, association or event.
What is private executive education?
Private executive education is a custom briefing or facilitated series that explores the framework inside your organization's current challenges.
How is the learning designed?
The learning experience moves from concept to observation, and from observation to experiment, so ideas are tested against real decisions in your business.
Are the courses available yet?
Not yet. Self-paced and cohort-based programs are being developed. Join the waitlist on this page and you will be the first to know when a program, date or format is confirmed.
Can I try something for free first?
Yes. Chapter 1 of the book, The Weather Report You Never Trusted, is available as a free PDF download on this page.