The Journey to Phronesis
I’m excited to share that I’ve finished the manuscript of my first book. My working title is The Journey to Phronesis: The Art of Thinking in Systems and Living with Purpose. It will be published in Spring 2026.
The book is about thinking: how we do it, where we fail (which is often), and how we can do it better.
The ancient Greeks had a word that we've lost in modern English: phronesis. It wasn't knowledge for knowledge's sake, nor was it technical skill. Phronesis was practical wisdom – the ability to navigate life's complexities with clarity and purpose. It was knowing not just what is true, but what to do about it. It was thinking clearly. In an age where we're drowning in information but thirsting for understanding, this ancient concept has never been more vital.
I explore the powerful connection between systems thinking – a structured way of understanding complexity that I’ve applied throughout my education in engineering and my professional career as a consultant – and the philosophy of the ancient Stoics, such as Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, and Seneca.
I’m a thinker. I’ve always been a thinker. But a few years ago, I was completely lost. I'd left a senior role at a great company to start a business, and it was clearly failing. I was depressed, anxious, and out of shape. I felt like I was drifting without purpose. Then I picked up a book about Stoicism, and something clicked. The Stoics weren't just offering practical wisdom for life — they were using the same principles of interconnection, feedback loops, and leverage points that I'd been applying to the problems my entire career. But they were applying them to life itself.
As I continued to read more about the Stoics and other philosophers, I recognized that many of these great thinkers who lived over 2,000 years ago had intuited systems thinking concepts. They understood that life isn't a series of isolated events, but instead a complicated web of connections. I realized that these ancient philosophers were some of our earliest systems thinkers.
In the book, I examine how we can become better thinkers through these two lenses: systems thinking and Stoicism. The book contains three parts. In Part One, I explore the fundamentals of systems thinking, laying the groundwork for concepts that help us view the world in a new light. In Part Two, I outline tools we can use to give us a better understanding of how to find, synthesize, and interpret information. And finally, in Part Three, I share examples of how you can apply these concepts in your everyday life. Throughout the entire book, I connect these ideas to the Stoic principles to which they align. The book is filled with stories from my career and personal life; experiences as a consultant and as a poker player; and examples from modern times and from history.
My path to this perspective wasn’t straightforward. I’m not a philosopher or a systems theorist. I’m a practitioner who has spent over twenty years applying analytical frameworks to messy, real-world problems. When I faced struggles in my own life, I discovered these same tools — particularly when framed through the lens of Stoic wisdom — could help me redesign my entire life from the ground up.
The Stoics helped me realize that the analytical frameworks I'd been using professionally could also be applied to everyday challenges, such as productivity, health, relationships, and finding purpose. They showed me how to connect the how of systems thinking with the why of living a meaningful life.
My hope for this book is that it helps people escape the thinking crisis we're facing. The world's complexity is growing exponentially — we encounter more information before lunch than our ancestors did in a month. Yet we’re getting worse at thinking. We're using simple, linear mental models that don't match our messy reality. We look for single causes when dealing with complex webs of connections. We apply quick fixes that are short-sighted and exacerbate problems in the long term.
As technology continues to improve, we’re outsourcing more and more of our cognitive work. We let algorithms make our decisions, GPS navigate for us, and now AI does our thinking. These tools are incredible, but our over-reliance on them is atrophying our ability to think for ourselves. And our ability to think for ourselves – to learn, to develop wisdom, and to grow – is what makes us human and wonderful. We owe it to ourselves to cherish this unique ability.
You'll love this book if you've ever felt like you're working harder but making little progress. If you've noticed the same problems appearing in your life over and over. If you're tired of advice that sounds good but doesn't account for the complexity of real life. This is for anyone who wants to think more clearly, solve problems more effectively, and build a life that's both successful and meaningful.
This book is not about reaching some perfect state of thinking — it's about embracing thinking as a lifelong practice where we continuously get a little less wrong over time by combining the ideas of systems thinking with the wisdom of Stoicism.
I’m currently seeking additional beta readers to review the manuscript in September and October. Your feedback will be invaluable in shaping the final version. If you are interested in getting an early look at its content and sharing your thoughts to help me shape the final output, please fill out this short form. Any beta readers who participate will be mentioned in the Acknowledgements section of the final printed book when it is published.
Thanks for your continued support. I’ll continue to update this page throughout the publishing process.
All the best,
Michael Lukich