Emergence and Emergent Strategy: Dancing with Complexity
Living in a Web of Systemic Interdependence
We live within a web of systemic interdependence, yet our social, political, and economic systems remain largely unprepared to function within it. The global network driving the modern economy has evolved into an adaptive, decentralized organism that exceeds the control or comprehension of any single nation. This lack of control often triggers anxiety because we can no longer manipulate systems through traditional levers of soft or hard power. The transparency of the internet, the rise of alternative media, and the constant circulation of misinformation compound this complexity, revealing the fragility of the structures that once seemed stable. Social systems now evolve faster than the traditions that shape identity and belonging, and this mismatch exposes the need for new ways of thinking, learning, and collaborating (Meadows, 2008).
This complexity embodies emergence, patterns, and order arising from local interactions without centralized control. It invites a collective humility that challenges our cultural obsession with mastery. Instead of designing rigid solutions, emergent strategy asks us to recognize that no single actor can steer systemic change; we must learn to move with complexity rather than against it (brown, 2017).
Emergent Strategy and the Fragility of Ego
Emergent strategy requires multidimensional collaboration across feedback loops of quantitative and qualitative insights. Centralized power may satisfy our human egos, but sustainable transformation depends requires and is asking for distributed intelligence, multiple perspectives interacting through continuous learning. What this tells us is that the challenge lies not in the design problems themselves, but our understanding of human fragility: our resistance to feedback, fear of uncertainty, and fixed mindsets. What a growth mindset reframes for us is feedback as a signal of learning and social evolution rather than failure, this allows new data to become fuel for adaptation instead of shame (Dweck, 2006). As Adrienne Maree Brown (2017) emphasizes, emergence thrives where people cultivate trust, adaptability, and reflection, conditions that nurture collective intelligence.
Example of Emergence in Las Gaviotas, Project Regeneration
Emergent systems reveal themselves in the stories of Las Gaviotas, Project Regeneration, and Drawdown.
Las Gaviotas in Colombia began as a small ecological experiment and evolved into a thriving self-sustaining community. Local experimentation, solar pumps, reforestation, and community governance created regenerative feedback loops. The forest itself became a living system that reorganized around environmental balance and human cooperation (Holt-Giménez, 2006).
Project Regeneration functions as a distributed, open-source platform where participants continuously update and share climate solutions. Its evolution is emergent: collective intelligence guides iterative action, producing outcomes that no single leader could have designed (Hawken, 2021).
Drawdown emerged from the synthesis of diverse scientific research and local knowledge, identifying scalable solutions to reverse global warming. The hierarchy of solutions was not imposed but discovered through data-driven collaboration (Hawken, 2017).
In all three cases, emergence replaces command-and-control with iterative feedback, humility, and responsiveness to context.
Opportunities for Emergence in Today’s World
Signs of emergence appear everywhere, from grassroots organizing to decentralized technology movements. Local initiatives such as mutual-aid networks, regenerative agriculture, and co-ops reflect emergent strategy in practice: small actions aligning toward systemic change. Globally, we see similar patterns in youth-led climate activism, Indigenous sovereignty movements, and open-source innovation. Each relies on relational intelligence rather than hierarchy.
The opportunity today is to train the ego for interdependence, to see collaboration, iteration, and feedback as strengths. Societies that foster spaces for experimentation and psychological safety will be best equipped to navigate the polycrisis of climate, economy, and identity. Emergent leadership, therefore, becomes less about control and more about cultivating the conditions under which new patterns of coherence can arise.
Dancing with Systems: A Practice of Attunement
Donella Meadows (2008) reminds us that effective engagement with complex systems is more like dancing than engineering. Dancing requires attentiveness to rhythm and feedback, leading and following in turn. This metaphor reframes leadership as a fluid, participatory act rooted in observation and humility. When we dance with systems, we learn to sense where energy already flows and align with it, rather than imposing will. In my own work, this means cultivating awareness of emergent opportunities: moments when collaboration, trust, and shared learning begin to self-organize into something larger than any one individual could have orchestrated.
Perspective Grid Workshop
(Collaboration Strategy in Practice)
Purpose:
To surface and align diverse perspectives across a team or community, identify key patterns of divergence/convergence, and prepare the ground for an emergent strategic direction.
Duration: ½ day (3–4 hours)
Ideal group: 6–12 participants
Materials: Sticky notes (or Miro), Sharpies, voting dots, large wall grid (axes labeled as chosen dimensions).
Phase 1: Set the Frame (30 min)
Clarify Intent:
Facilitator script: “We’re here to understand how our different perspectives reveal opportunities for collective strategy.”Define Axes:
X-axis: Current system orientation (e.g., control → collaboration)
Y-axis: Impact horizon (e.g., short-term → long-term)
Tailor to context (e.g., user-centric ↔ organization-centric).
Choose a Decider: Designate a stakeholder to make final tie-breaker decisions (per Strategy Signal Step 0).
Phase 2: Mapping Perspectives (60 min)
Silent Placement: Each participant writes 3–5 statements describing their perspective on the current challenge.
Place on Grid: Silently position notes on the grid according to perceived stance and horizon.
Gallery Walk: Group observes patterns, clusters, gaps, contradictions, without discussion.
Phase 3: Sense-Making (Emergence Zone) (60 min)
Group Discussion: Identify tension areas (the “Groan Zone”).
Facilitator cue: “What patterns are forming? → Where are we misaligned? → What insights are emerging?”Cluster & Name Themes: Group similar ideas into 3–5 core insight clusters.
Reflect: Invite participants to articulate what surprised them.
Phase 4: Strategic Convergence (45 min)
Long-Term Goal: Ask, “If we addressed these themes well, what would success look like in 2 years?”
Capture as a shared North Star statement.Prioritize Leverage Points: Vote on the 2–3 themes that hold the greatest potential leverage.
Draft Success Metrics: For each, define simple “as measured by…” indicators.
Phase 5: Roadmap & Closure (45 min)
Concept Sketches: In small groups, outline one strategic concept per theme using a mini Strategy Signal template (Title - Hypothesis - 6-week Action Plan).
Quick Decider Review: Confirm top 2-3 concepts to explore further.
Wrap-Up: Reflect on insights: “What emerged that we couldn’t have predicted?”
Emergent Strategy Workshop
Duration: 2 Days (5–6 hours each)
Core Framework: Strategy Signal (Courtney, 2023) + Perspective Grid Method
Purpose: To surface diverse perspectives, sense emerging patterns, and co-create a living strategy that adapts to complexity rather than resists it.
Day 1: Divergence & Emergence (Exploration)
1. Frame & Context (30 min)
Objective: Establish shared understanding of purpose and conditions for emergence.
Review workshop intent: “We’re not here to decide prematurely, we’re here to notice what wants to emerge.”
Clarify roles: Facilitator, Decider, Participants (Strategy Signal principle).
Grounded in systems: introduce interdependence, feedback loops, and growth mindset.
2. Perspective Grid Mapping (90 min)
Objective: Reveal cognitive diversity and identify strategic tensions.
Define axes (e.g., Control ↔ Collaboration, Short-Term ↔ Long-Term).
Silent creation of perspective notes (5 per person).
Place notes on the grid: observe without debate.
Group sense-making: find clusters, contradictions, and white spaces.
Output: A visual map of systemic perspectives, your “strategic ecosystem.”
3. Pattern Discovery (Emergence Zone) (60 min)
Objective: Translate data into insight.
Cluster notes into 3–5 emergent themes.
Ask: “What patterns do we see across systems?”
Capture emotional tone and systemic drivers.
Reflect in pairs: “What does this reveal about our system’s current mindset?”
4. Narrative Framing (45 min)
Objective: Articulate insights as mini-stories of change.
Turn each theme into a “Because → Therefore → So that…” statement.
Example: Because our collaboration depends on trust → We must redefine feedback → So that learning accelerates faster than competition. (side note: learning is more important than competing)
5. Reflection & Harvest (30 min)
Objective: Identify the “groan zone” and prepare for convergence.
What tensions feel unresolved but important?
What surprised or disturbed us?
Which insights might signal future opportunity?
Output: 3-5 “Emergent Insight Statements.”
Day 2: Convergence & Strategic Synthesis (Direction)
1. Re-Ground & Revisit Insights (30 min)
Quick recap of Day 1 outcomes.
Invite participants to share reflections or new observations overnight.
2. North Star Definition (60 min)
Objective: Define shared long-term intention.
Discuss: “If we resolved these tensions well, what would success look like in 2 years?”
Craft one North Star statement.
Validate alignment with Decider.
Output: One unified directional goal.
3. Strategic Signal Canvas (90 min)
Objective: Move from insight to strategy using Strategy Signal structure.
Each small group completes:
Problem Statement (what needs to change)
Key Insight (what we learned from emergence)
Concept Hypothesis (what we think will shift the system)
Success Metrics (as measured by…)
Next 6-Week Action (first experiment or intervention)
Groups present concepts: Decider provides directional clarity.
4. Leverage Point Voting (45 min)
Objective: Prioritize actionable ideas.
Each participant gets 3 votes.
Top 2–3 strategies move forward.
Discuss interdependencies between them (feedback loops).
5. Action Roadmap & Closing (45 min)
Objective: Embed emergent strategy into ongoing rhythm.
Translate top ideas into a 90-day roadmap (who, when, how).
Schedule reflection points (feedback and iteration loops).
Closing round: “What pattern of emergence do we each commit to nurture?”
Final Output:
Perspective Grid Map
North Star Statement
2–3 Tested Strategy Concepts
90-Day Action Plan with Feedback Loops
Conclusion
Emergence and emergent strategy challenge us to expand our definition of intelligence, from the individual to the collective, from control to participation. We are living in an era where complexity cannot be mastered but must be partnered with. The systems we inhabit are evolving faster than our egos, but within that discomfort lies possibility. As we learn to dance with systems, embracing transparency, feedback, and interdependence, we become participants in the world’s ongoing act of self-organization and renewal.
References
brown, a. m. (2017). Emergent strategy: Shaping change, changing worlds. AK Press.
Courtney, J. (2023). Strategy Signal: A two-day workshop for clarity, alignment, and focused action. AJ&Smart.
Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. Random House.
Hawken, P. (Ed.). (2017). Drawdown: The most comprehensive plan ever proposed to reverse global warming. Penguin Books.
Hawken, P. (2021). Regeneration: Ending the climate crisis in one generation. Penguin Books.
Holt-Giménez, E. (2006). Campesino a campesino: Voices from Latin America’s farmer-to-farmer movement for sustainable agriculture. Food First Books.
Meadows, D. (2008). Thinking in systems: A primer. Chelsea Green Publishing.