What I liked about Engaging Emergence by Peggy Holman is that it took the concept out of the concept of fuzziness and provided some history and rigor in thinking about it. As pointed out by my friend Robin with her acute nose for “new age jargon”, emergence may be the most overused and poorly defined term in popular usage. Since my current mantra of “what wants to happen” seems dangerously close to implying emergence, Robin’s observation raised my hackles a bit. So, I really appreciated this book’s treatment of the topic.
I was also surprised and delighted to discover that this book connects the dots between the participatory processes of Art of Hosting (Peer Circle, Appreciative Inquiry, World Café, Open Space, etc.) and The Santa Fe Institute; the connective tissue being Complexity Theory. In my two recent trips to Santa Fe and in many conversations with my friend, Felicity, I’ve heard mention of the institute and I knew that it was a think tank of lots of really smart people, many of whom had roots in physics and the sciences. What I had not realized was that the institute was where the theories of complexity were developed and that the cross-disciplinary study of complexity continues to be its focus.
Key points from Engaging Emergence:
Emergence is the form of change which results in a system makes a jump to a new level of organization. The new level is distinct from the previous level while organizing previously disparate components into a new sense of order. Emergence is different from incremental change in that it is radical and abrupt.
Pattern of Change:
- Disruption in an system is essential for emergence (being someone with a long history of disruption, this was another welcome learning).
- Differentiation teases apart useful distinctions.
- Coherence arises as disparate aspects cluster together to create a complex new whole.
Characteristics of Emergence:
- Radical novelty (new properties appear at each level of complexity)
- Coherence (stable system of interactions)
- Wholeness (more than a sum of parts)
- Dynamic (always in process and evolving)
- Downward causation (the system shapes the behavior of its constituent parts)
Dynamics of Emergence:
- Situational leadership (no one in charge, everyone in charge)
- Simple rules create complex behaviors
- Systems of feedback (balancing and disrupting)
- Clustering of like with like
Key questions for engaging emergence:
- How do we disrupt coherence compassionately?
- How do we engage disruptions creatively?
- How do we renew coherence wisely?
Principles for engaging emergence:
- Pioneer new ways of thinking and interacting
- Encourage random encounters
- Seek meaning
- Simplify
Practices for engaging emergence:
- Take responsibility for what you love as an act of service.
- Listen
- Connect – bridge differences with others.
- Embrace mystery (I love this one!)
- Choose possibility – call forth “what could be.”
- Follow life energy (love this one, too)
- Focus intentions
- Welcome – cultivate hospitable space
- Invite diversity
- Inquire appreciatively – ask bold questions of possibility
- Open – be receptive
- Reflect – see patterns & be a mirror
- Name – make meaning
- Harvest
- Do it again and continue to evolve
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