“In philosophy, systems theory, science, and art, emergence occurs when a complex entity has properties or behaviors that its parts do not have on their own, and emerge only when they interact in a wider whole.
Emergence plays a central role in theories of integrative levels and of complex systems. For instance, the phenomenon of life as studied in biology is an emergent property of chemistry and physics.
In philosophy, theories that emphasize emergent properties have been called emergentism.”
The original meaning of ‘gestalt’ was ‘different than the sum of the parts’.
“Looking at emergence in the context of social and systems change, invites us to reframe our thinking on parts and wholes and their interrelation. Unlike machines, living systems at all levels of recursion - be it a sentient body, a tree, a family, an organisation, the education system, the economy, the health system, the political system etc - are continuously creating themselves. They are continually growing and changing along with their surrounding elements, and therefore are more than the sum of their parts. As Peter Senge and co-authors put forward in the book Presence: Exploring profound change in People, Organizations and Society, “as long as our thinking is governed by habit - notably industrial, “machine age” concepts such as control, predictability, standardization, and “faster is better” - we will continue to recreate institutions as they have been, despite their disharmony with the larger world, and the need for all living systems to evolve.” While change is predictably constant, it is unpredictable in direction and often occurs at second and nth orders of systemic relationality. Understanding emergence and what creates the conditions for different forms of emergence to occur, either insidious or nourishing vitality, is essential in the search for deep transformations.
The works of Nora Bateson and her colleagues at the International Bateson Institute delve into this. Since 2012, they have been researching questions such as what makes a living system ready to change? Can unforeseen ready-ness for change be nourished? Here being ready is not thought of as being prepared, but rather as nourishing the flexibility we do not yet know will be needed. These inquiries challenge the common view that a theory of change is produced from an identified preferred goal or outcome. As explained in their paper An essay on ready-ing: Tending the prelude to change: “While linear managing or controlling of the direction of change may appear desirable, tending to how the system becomes ready allows for pathways of possibility previously unimagined.” This brings a new lens to the field of emergence in social and systems change as it looks to tending the pre-emergent process. Warm Data Labs are the fruit of their praxis, they are spaces for transcontextual mutual learning in which aphanipoetic phenomena unfold. Having hosted hundreds of Warm Data processes with thousands of participants, they have found that these spaces of shared poly-learning across contexts lead to a realm of potential change, a necessarily obscured zone of wild interaction of unseen, unsaid, unknown flexibility. It is such flexibility that nourishes the ready-ing living systems require to respond to complex situations in new ways and change. In other words, this readying process preludes what will emerge. When exploring questions of social change, it is important to ask ourselves, what is submerging in the current social imaginary and perhaps, rather than focus all our resources and energy on driving direct order responses, to nourish flexibility with ourselves, and the systems we are a part of.
Another approach that engages with the concept of emergence for social change is Theory U, where “deep emergence” is the result of self-transcending knowledge after a successful journey along the U through layers of awareness. This practice nourishes transformation at the inner-being level, which enables new ways of being, seeing and relating to emerge. The concept of emergence has also been employed in the field of facilitation. In Emergent Strategy, adrienne maree brown defines emergent strategies as “ways for humans to practice complexity and grow the future through relatively simple interactions”.
Also see Emergent Strategy by Adrienne Marie Brown