Ezra Klein’s Abundance arrives like a gust of long-awaited optimism: a resounding call for liberals to stop hoarding scarcity and start building the future. He and Derek Thompson rightly identify the quiet paralysis of progressive politics -- mired in good intentions, gridlocked by bureaucracy, and burdened by the myth that process alone can deliver equity. Abundance dares to challenge this, arguing for a new progressive ethos rooted in supply-side thinking, infrastructure, and visionary ambition. It is bold, timely, and essential reading.
But it is also, in many ways, utopian.
The world Klein describes -- a world where reformed regulations, political will, and institutional agility converge to unleash prosperity -- feels distant from the day-to-day reality of leaders I work with. Most aren’t standing at the helm of national policy. They’re mid-level managers trying to push forward a new idea in a risk-averse culture. They’re educators, creators, and entrepreneurs who see the system’s dysfunction but live inside it. They’re burned out, not by scarcity alone, but by the emotional weight of navigating systems that feel immune to common sense, let alone structural change.
What’s missing in Abundance is the human architecture of change. And that’s where The Tao of Leadership begins.
While I agree with the premise that we need to build -- homes, energy, technologies, better public institutions -- I propose that we first need to rebuild something more fundamental: trust in ourselves as builders. The Tao teaches that progress doesn’t begin with structure, but with intention. It begins with the human being -- not as a voter, consumer, or policy actor -- but as a creator in a web of relationships, values, and untapped influence.
If Abundance is a call for systemic reform, then I offer this as a companion map: a guide to individual agency within that system. Because if we wait for the system to change before we act, we may wait forever.
Let’s begin with this question: What can I build, right now, with what I have?
The Tao offers five principles that can help individuals -- and organizations -- align with a more grounded form of abundance. Not the kind that flows from deregulation or trillion-dollar budgets, but the kind that flows from clarity, courage, and creativity.
Harmony: Build with What Already Exists
Klein writes as if the machinery of government and economics can be retooled by will alone. But the Tao reminds us that transformation begins not with control, but with harmony. What are the relationships, systems, and resources already in your world that are underutilized? What talents are undernourished? What alliances are waiting to be activated? Local abundance begins when we stop seeking permission from systems and start designing within them -- subtly, persistently, in harmony with their inertia.
Flexibility: Start Where Change is Welcome
One of the most frequent frustrations I hear from leaders is: “We tried, and nothing changed.” That’s often because we start with the most rigid parts of a system. The Tao teaches us to flow like water -- seek out where receptivity already exists. Maybe it’s a pilot program, a single team, or a small community initiative. Flexibility isn’t a weakness; it’s the strategic art of knowing when to yield and when to press forward.
Balance: Creative Constraint Over Destruction
Where Abundance leans toward deregulation, I advocate for creative constraint. Rules and processes aren’t inherently enemies of progress -- they’re scaffolds that can evolve. Ask: What are these regulations trying to protect? How can we meet that need in a more efficient or human-centered way? We don’t need to demolish the scaffolding to build anew. We need leaders who can repurpose and reimagine it.
Stability: Culture First, Policy Second
No amount of reform will succeed if the culture beneath it is brittle or adversarial. The Tao prioritizes stability -- not as inertia, but as emotional foundation. Leaders must cultivate cultures of trust, experimentation, and psychological safety. It is within such ecosystems that policy reforms take root. Klein’s book proposes bold federal moves; I propose that leaders begin by creating microcultures of progress, even inside large institutions.
Integrity: Align Means and Ends
Abundance champions noble goals -- clean energy, affordable housing, transportation access -- but sometimes glosses over the gap between vision and method. The Tao insists that the path matters as much as the destination. Abundance achieved through manipulation, exploitation, or burnout will collapse under its own weight. We must ensure that how we build reflects what we’re building for. That’s integrity.
I’m not suggesting we abandon large-scale reform. But I am suggesting we expand the lens. Real abundance begins with everyday decisions: how we lead meetings, how we design teams, how we distribute resources, how we invite dissent. The revolution Klein seeks will not come only from policy change -- it will come from leaders who see themselves as builders, even in constrained environments.
We need dreamers like Klein to keep aiming at the horizon. But we also need grounded practitioners to lay the bricks at our feet.
The Tao doesn’t tell us to dismantle the system overnight. It invites us to walk softly, listen deeply, and act with intention -- to turn rigid institutions into living ecosystems of possibility.
Abundance gives us the what.
The Tao of Leadership gives us the how.
And the world needs both.
About the Author
Jack Myers is a media ecologist, futurist, and the author of