By Margaret Wheatley and Deborah Frieze
2. Deborah Frieze (biography)
How can people turn a common cause and vision of what’s possible into change? Can networks and communities of practice turn into systems of influence? How can we best prepare conditions for emergence of systems of influence?
We propose a three-stage lifecycle model of emergence and change, moving from networks to communities of practice to systems of influence.
Stage One: Networks
Networks are essential for people finding like-minded others, the first stage in the lifecycle of emergence and change. It’s important to note that networks are only the beginning. They are based on self-interest: people usually network together for their own benefit and to develop their own work. Networks tend to have fluid membership: people move in and out of them based on how much they personally benefit from participating.
Stage Two: Communities of Practice
Networks make it possible for people to find others engaged in similar work. The second stage of emergence and change is the development of communities of practice. Many such smaller, individuated communities can spring from a robust network. Communities of practice are also self-organized.
People share a common work and realize there is great benefit to being in relationship. They use this community to share what they know, to support one another, and to intentionally create new knowledge for their field of practice. They make their resources and knowledge available to anyone, especially those doing related work and this can happen at speed.
Stage Three: Systems of Influence
The third stage in emergence can never be predicted. It is the sudden appearance of a system that has real power and influence. Emergence results from connections among local actions that have sprung up simultaneously in many different areas, leading to influence at a larger scale. Emergence occurs suddenly and surprisingly.
Emergent phenomena always have these characteristics:
- they exert much more power than the sum of their parts;
- they always possess new capacities different from the local actions that engendered them;
- they always surprise us by their appearance.
Key manifestations of emergence include that the cause and vision, plus approaches and methods, that hovered at the periphery suddenly become the norm. People no longer hesitate about adopting these ideas, approaches and methods, and they learn them easily. They are included in policy and funding debates. Critics often become chief supporters.
This system of influence possesses qualities and capacities that were unknown in the individuals. It isn’t that they were hidden, they simply don’t exist until the system emerges. They are properties of the system, not the individual, but once there, individuals possess them. And the system that emerges always possesses greater power and influence than is possible through planned, incremental change.
Preparing conditions for emergence
Key to preparation is fostering critical connections between those with similar causes and visons for change. Connections with kindred spirits develop the new knowledge, practices, courage and commitment that lead to broad-based change.
Key is fostering networks and communities of practice, including by:
- designing and facilitating community gatherings to foster networks;
- hosting networks where people can exchange ideas and resources;
- using collaborative technology to support communities of practice through dedicated websites, online conferences, asynchronous conversations and co-created knowledge.
Communities of practice need many different resources: ideas, mentors, processes, technology, equipment, money and, most importantly, learning and knowledge, especially knowing what techniques and processes work well, and learning from experience as people do the work. Particularly helpful are the interactions and exchanges among pioneering leaders themselves, enabling them to share their practices, experiences and dreams.
Concluding questions
Does this resonate with your experience of how change happens? Do you have examples to share? Do you have other suggestions for preparing conditions for emergence?
To find out more:
Wheatley, M. and Frieze, D. (no date). Using Emergence to Take Social Innovation to Scale. The Berkana Institute: Provo, Utah, United States of America. (Online): https://www.margaretwheatley.com/articles/using-emergence.pdf (PDF 492KB). The authors advise that this work was first published in 2006.
Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) Statement: Generative artificial intelligence was not used in the development of this i2Insights contribution. (For i2Insights policy on generative artificial intelligence please see https://i2insights.org/contributing-to-i2insights/guidelines-for-authors/#artificial-intelligence).
Biography: Margaret (Meg) Wheatley PhD is co-founder and president of The Berkana Institute, a global nonprofit founded in 1991. She is a writer, teacher, speaker, and management consultant who works to create organizations and communities worthy of human habitation. She is based in Provo, Utah, USA.
Biography: Deborah Frieze MBA is involved in various social enterprises, including co-founder and President Emerita of Boston Impact Initiative and former co-President of The Berkana Institute. She is an author, musician, entrepreneur and social activist based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Hello Margaret and Deborah. I found this a crucial piece to read as you explain well how important it is to generate connections in imagining and trying to bring about new futures, albeit that the emergence is unpredictable. I have glanced at the pdf of your book that you shared and I will in turn share it with a community of practice in which I am involved across various countries in relation to preserving sacred forests and rivers and fostering regenerative agricultural practices. Meanwhile, like Jean Boulton I am curious to hear more about how you envisage emergence in theory and practice, which as you rightly say is radically new!
Thank you — this is so brilliantly illustrated and clear that it makes my heart sing.
My experience with stages one and two has culminated in a relatively small, 21-year-old multisector network focused on public service leadership, which is characterized by tacit knowledge transfer during events and periodic co-creation of ebooks and roleplays that explain, encourage, and show the difference made by mission-focused boundary spanning by individual contributors at work. Although the network began in Washington, DC, participants now routinely show up from across the U.S., and rarely from the UK, Finland, Italy, India, and Australia. The fact that there is still momentum, and that some participants will show up in the middle of the night at their end, tells me that this is feeding people somehow. Key factors have been absence of hierarchy and welcoming conversation.
In the process of nurturing that network, I’ve met world class individuals who are doing organizational network analysis, systems convening, or enlightened hosting. Most have their egos in check and their work is constructive and often consequential. As I look at “Preparing conditions for emergence,” however, it seems to me that one important thing ought to be made explicit: Organizers who think this is about them and others of perceived importance, or about codifying frameworks that do not prioritize respect and heart, could actually foster emergence that’s not good for humans.
It was lovely to read this. Margaret Wheatley’s Leadership and the New Science was one of the first books I read in this space that cemented my growing interest in this field – together with Peter Senge in the 1980s. I just wondered if you could say a bit more about emergence . It is a theme I have explored myself – differentiating between emergence as the systemic properties of the ‘whole’ and emergence as something radically new, not necessarily held systemically (as described by Kaufmann). I’d love to know how you use the word.
Hi Jean. Meg has written a tremendous amount about emergence, particularly in her early work (“Leadership and the New Science” and “A Simpler Way”). As I understand it, she is primarily referring to how life creates unexpected order through self-organization–as opposed to through our designs and plans.