« 4. Conditions For Emergence »

If an organisation [or any other complex social system] is change-ready, even a small stimulus can bring about major change. What follows is an edited excerpt from Emergence in Organisations by Richard Seel.  It suggests some of the things to which we might pay attention in order to help an organisation become ‘change-ready’.  

1 Connectivity

Change in an organisation is a change in the patterns of relationships between those who are members of the organisation together with new patterns of interaction with the environment. Connectivity thus becomes crucial. Existing patterns of connection ‘ossify’ and without more connectivity they cannot change.

Too little and too much connectivity can inhibit emergence. Though too much connectivity is rarely an issue in organisations as a whole, it can frequently be an issue in very tightly bonded teams. When connectivity is too high, diversity is excluded and groupthink is a very likely outcome (see below).  But in general organisations suffer from too little connectivity and building connections—especially across boundaries—becomes vital for preparing an organisation for change. 

2 Diversity

Diversity is crucial for emergent change to occur. Strictly speaking, it is an increase in diversity which is required for change to occur. The greater the diversity in an organisation, the greater the ‘possibility space’ which it can explore. What is needed is diversity of all kinds—cultural, intellectual and emotional. 

3 Rate of information flow

If connectivity specifies the possibility for effective communication, it is still necessary for actual transactions to take place between individuals. 

In most organisations the rate of information, energy and resource flow is too small and so the challenge is to help increase them. But there are times when it can become too great and then the challenge is in the opposite direction. One example of the latter is the fashion, still common in many organisations, of ‘cc-ing’ e-mails to everybody who might have even a slight interest in the subject. This is usually done as a defensive manoeuvre in organisations where a blame culture is strong.

4 Anxiety containment

Too much or too little anxiety inhibits emergence.  We can only cope with a certain amount of anxiety. If our levels of ‘uncontained’ anxiety rise too high we will construct defences against it. This is true at both individual and organisational level, leading to both dysfunctional work practices and rituals which serve no purpose other than to protect against anxiety. Bureaucratic rules and regulations are often a symptom of attempts to guard against uncontained anxiety. These defences will nearly always work against change.

On the other hand, if there is too little anxiety—and therefore too much comfort—the incentive to challenge and innovate may be missing. Working with anxiety in organisations can be both difficult and fruitful. 

5 Proportionate power

If the power differentials in the system are too high or too low, emergence can also be inhibited. The case where the power differentials are too great is perhaps closer to most people’s experience. Those who have power and who feel threatened (possibly accurately) by the possibilities implicit in new forms of organisation will often act to suppress emergence. In my experience, while it is not usually possible for the senior managers in an organisation to ensure change, it is possible for them to inhibit it. For this reason, any change must have the positive support of a large proportion of the senior management; otherwise it is likely to fail.

On the other hand, if there is no good leadership; if there are no clear power relationships; if no-one is prepared to take responsibility, then emergent change within the system is also unlikely—though change from outside may be inevitable.

6 Identity maintenance

One reason why change—especially unpredictable emergent change—can feel threatening is because it may seem to challenge the very identity of the organisation itself. Just as people invest considerable emotional energy in their personal sense of identity, so do people in organisations. Even if I don’t like the place in which I work and want it to change I still want it to keep its essential identity. Takeovers and re-brandings can be very difficult for workers and they will often do whatever they can to subvert and resist this sort of change.

Organisational identity is often vested in symbols and rituals. A problem can occur when a desired change starts by discarding some of these. They may, in themselves, be of little value but if significance has been vested in them, their disappearance can lead to a lot of resentment and resistance.

7 Good boundaries

Good boundaries seem to be necessary for emergence to occur. These may be deadlines, clear goals and intentions, prescriptions about length or size, and so on. The common factor seems to be that there is a well-bounded ‘space’ within which the emergence can occur.

There is, for me, some link here with Transactional Analysis—at least as an explanatory mechanism. The creative artist cannot create without giving the "Child" free rein. Yet if the demands of the "Parent" are not heard and taken into account there is likely to be self-indulgence rather than art. The role of the "Adult" is to freely let go of control and yet to still retain enough authority to be able to ‘referee’ when required.

In fact, I believe that this is a crucial principle for the management of self-organisation in corporate life. That is, lay down very strict boundaries specifying what is not permitted, add a clear goal, and then give freedom to experiment within those parameters. 

8 Intentionality

Intention seems to play a part in emergence in human systems, especially in encouraging a particular kind of outcome. However, it has to be recognised that intention is not a simple intrinsic property of human agents. Instead, it is often—perhaps always—co-created as a result of interactions with other people. Intention, therefore, can be thought of as an emergent property created from the interactions within a human system which then feeds back into the system and influences its future development.

In organisational terms, emergent change is more likely if there is a compelling vision which engages the majority of the people involved. For many, the term ‘vision statement’ conjures up pictures of a series of bland or wordy vision statements posted on the walls or promulgated through company newsletters. In practice, these statements rarely have any effect. They may energise and motivate the senior team which put them together but most others in the organisation will remain unmoved; indeed, cynicism and scepticism may easily be increased.

To be really effective a vision must be communicated in the stories people tell one another. A new vision implies new stories. Stories have two great advantages over other forms of communication: firstly they engage the heart as well as the head and secondly they offer the possibility of participative co-creation. When someone hears a compelling story about the future of the organisation, their first instinct is to re-tell the story in their own particular context.

9 Positive emotional space

High performing teams have a high ratio of positivity to negativity. The ratio of positive to negative comments is known as the emotional space and the highest performing teams had far more positive comments than negative. From their work it seems that emergence is much more likely if there is a positive emotional space.

10 Watchful anticipation

Finally, but not least in importance, is the need for watchful anticipation. Premature closure can inhibit emergence, or at least prevent its full blossoming and subsequent feeding down into the continuing development of the system. The desire for action in human systems may be almost overwhelming but emergence cannot be rushed; it requires a kind of expectant waiting and a sensitivity to the unfolding moment—a state often referred to in the literature on creativity.

In an organisational context this condition is the hardest of all to find. Most organisations have some deep seated cultural rules which say things like, “Be busy”, “Never leave first” or “Long hours are heroic”. One of my favourite slogans is, “Don’t just do something, stand there!” but it is really hard in modern organisational life. The problem is that most organisations are only prepared to attempt the path of change if they can travel in ways which actually reinforce the existing patterns—to do different and be different is really hard.

Command & Control vs. Emergent Organisations 

The numbers in parentheses refer to the ‘ten conditions’ 

Command & control paradigm	Emergent paradigm
Keep people in ‘silos’	Build connectivity (1)
Ensure everyone ‘salutes the flag’	Encourage diversity (2)
Manage communication initiatives	Create spaces for spontaneous communication (3)
Create bureaucratic processes	Acknowledge & deal with anxiety (4)
Make it clear who’s in charge	Give everyone leadership opportunities (5)
Announce new brand identity	Consult on identity change (6)
Tell people what to do	Tell people what not to do (7)
Set objectives	Agree energising goals (8)
Blame people for failures	Learn from events (9)
Keep busy	Wait expectantly (10)

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