Curricular revision can be an arduous and challenging process. The literature favors a rational planned process for doing so, but offers little advice regarding how to proceed when the time required for such an approach is not available. This article describes our use of four concepts from complexity science to revise a medical school curriculum in 11 months: process "emergence" rather than prescription, "simple rules" to guide and align faculty members, consistent application of "fractals" to provide a coherent image of organizational activity, and continuous "adaptation" of the revision process. These concepts can be applied to curricular revision in any field of study.