There is a world of difference between the unmanageable and the unmanaged.
Sometimes, people talk about the inherent unmanageability of life. There is some truth to this, but it is a partial truth. There are many factors that cannot be controlled (the weather, inflation, wars, the particular acts of other people). Circumstances conditioned or influenced by such factors are intrinsically unmanageable: the problem lies in the factor itself.
By contrast, to say that something is unmanaged is to say that, to the extent it can and should be managed, I am not managing it. That could be because I'm not paying attention. It could be because I'm paying attention and know what to do but am I not doing it. It could be because I want to do the right thing but am, myself, out of control, in other words I'm driven by emotions, impulses, preoccupations, compulsions, and obsessions that rank higher than reason and sense in my decision-making structure.
Circumstances that are unmanaged might thus be (a) manageable (except I haven't managed them) or (b) unmanageable (I lack the power to manage them).
For management of a circumstance to take place, two conditions must be fulfilled: firstly, the circumstance must be susceptible to management; secondly, it must have a capable and empowered manager. If either of these conditions is not met, the management will not take place.
For a steering wheel to be turned, it must be mechanically able to turn, and the turner must have the strength to turn it; for an employee to be managed, the employee must be willing to be managed, and the manager must have the authority to manage that employee.
In other words, the state of unmanageability stems either from the inherent unmanageability of a factor (e.g. the weather, the price of flour, Susan's alcoholism) or the manager's inability to manage a manageable factor because of lack of power (not showing up at work because of being drunk).
It is the second cause that Step One concerns itself with: In Step One, I lack the power to refrain from drinking; I lack the power to control the amount once I start; I lack the power to determine what to do when I drink (by virtue of being drunk): I am therefore unable to manage the circumstances of my life, because there are intervening, overriding forces that shunt my life onto an unwanted and unforeseen track.