Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds

by Adrienne Maree Brown

2. Invite the right people. We invite people to meetings for a lot of the wrong reasons—obligation, guilt, representation…even love. The questions to ask when shaping the invitation list are: “Who is directly impacted by this issue?”; “Who is doing compelling work on this issue?”; and “Who can move this work forward?”

3. Individual participant articulation. There are real language barriers—both literal and cultural—that mean we often think we are hearing each other, but we actually have no clue what others are saying. We all have filters, only some of which we are aware.

4. A living agenda. Develop a spacious, adaptable agenda so the participants can shape the meeting.

Collaboration can only be built on relationships and shared vision. Relationships have to be respectful (“Oh, I totally see why you are here and why I would want to work with you”) and real (“What you just said offended/disrespected me, and I can tell you about it because I want us to grow!”). And shared vision doesn’t mean a ten-point shared utopia—it means you can generally state that you are moving in the same direction.

5. Listen with love! The participants absolutely mean to be listening to each other, but their own agendas might fill up their ears with misunderstandings or frustrations. Your work as a facilitator is to listen to the needs of the group, help the participants to be clear to and with each other, and make sure you actually understand what folks in the room need.

6. Know when to say yes and when to say no. Yes to those things that deepen the gathering—cultural grounding, local welcome, clarifying questions, learning in real time, suggestions to slow down. No to manipulative efforts to quiet others, pontification, ignorance. Yes to singing, bio breaks (bathroom, fresh air, snacks, self care), ending early (when the group has run out of energy for the day), talent shows, parties, and efforts to synthesize. No to judgment, delays, circular conversations, and people who are rejecting the process while offering no alternatives. And yes to passion, no to obligation.

7. Don’t hover! Give the group time to be in its own process, conversation, or small group without your intervention. Be available if needed, but make room.

8. What you gonna do? Gibrán Rivera once articulated a question to me: “What is the next most elegant step?”

Develop a strategic direction moving towards vision, determining appropriate tactics based on the horizon you can see. Move forward with awareness. Develop strategic bodies and minds to adapt intelligently as the horizon changes.

We articulate these shared principles here, to the best of our ability, so that we can all more clearly understand the work we are doing together… We are making an honest attempt to solve the most significant problems of our day. We are building a network of people and organizations that are developing long-term solutions based on the immediate confrontation of our most pressing problems. Wherever there is a problem, there are already people acting on the problem in some fashion. Understanding those actions is the starting point for developing effective strategies to resolve the problem, so we focus on the solutions, not the problems. We emphasize our own power and legitimacy. We presume our power, not our powerlessness. We are agents, not victims. We spend more time building than attacking. We focus on strategies rather than issues. The strongest solutions happen through the process, not in a moment at the end of the process. The most effective strategies for us are the ones that work in situations of scarce resources and intersecting systems of oppression because those solutions tend to be the most holistic and sustainable. Place is important. For the AMC, Detroit is important as a source of innovative, collaborative, low-resource solutions. Detroit gives the conference a sense of place, just as each of the conference participants bring their own sense of place with them to the conference. We encourage people to engage with their whole selves, not just with one part of t...

The following “Jemez Principles” for democratic organizing were adopted by the participants: #1 Be Inclusive: If we hope to achieve just societies that include all people in decision making and assure that all people have an equitable share of the wealth and the work of this world, then we must work to build that kind of inclusiveness into our own movement

#2 Emphasis on Bottom-Up Organizing: To succeed, it is important to reach out into new constituencies, and to reach within all levels of leadership and membership base of the organizations that are already involved in our networks.

#3 Let People Speak for Themselves: We must be sure that relevant voices of people directly affected are heard.

#4 Work Together In Solidarity and Mutuality: Groups working on similar issues with compatible visions should consciously act in solidarity, mutuality and support each other’s work.

#5 Build Just Relationships Among Ourselves: We need to treat each other with justice and respect, both on an individual and an organizational level, in this country and across borders.

#6 Commitment to Self-Transformation: As we change societies, we must change from operating on the mode of individualism to community-centeredness.

Protocols are ways that principles look in action—the actual order, boundaries, practices, and paths towards being in principle.

Protocol & Principles for White People Working to Support the Black Liberation Movement: Frontline Leadership Solidarity is a Verb Long Haul Relationships Centering Blackness Don’t Let Whiteness Get in the Way Stay Human, Stay Grounded: Our own liberation is bound to the liberation of Black people. We will stay emotionally connected to the gravity of the war on Black people. Visionary and Confrontational Action: We commit to taking action that holds space for community vision, aligns with national demands from FergusonAction, and places our bodies in the path of injustice. Tactical Discipline Reflection ←→ Action cycle: We will constantly evaluate and learn from our mistakes and strengths, and share learning with others. Sustainability

PROTOCOLS: How we believe in doing this work Organize Our People Strive for a strategic diversity of tactics so all who want can play a role Build Trust & Practice Transparency Move Boldly and Swiftly: Take Risks, Make Mistakes, Share Lessons Embody self care & humility, community accountability, collective healing We submit these principles and protocols with humility and openness. We don’t have it all figured out, but we are committed to taking a stand, and learning as we go. We will not wait to be perfect, because we believe the time is now and we would rather be held accountable for our mistakes than forgiven our inaction.

Group Agreements At the beginning of a meeting of people who don’t work together regularly, it helps to set some agreements in place. If people are working together regularly, just have some standing agreements. Here are some of my favorites for emergent spaces: Listen from the inside out, or listen from the bottom up (a feeling in your gut matters!); Engage Tension, Don’t Indulge Drama; W.A.I.T.—Why Am I Talking? Make Space, Take Space—a post-ableist adaptation of step up, step back to help balance the verbose and the reticent;103 Confidentiality—take the lessons, leave the details; Be open to learning; Be open to someone else speaking your truth; Building, not selling—when you speak, converse, don’t pitch; Yes/and, both/and; Value the process as much as, if not more than, you value the outcomes; Assume best intent, attend to impact; Self care and community care—pay attention to your bladder, pay attention to your neighbors.

Efficient Consensus Decision Making I love to say the words “consensus decision making” to people who use the words “efficient” an...

These are core elements of consensus decision making that are crucial in resilient, decentralized organizations:104 Proposal-based decisions.

Being honest about your level of agreement. We like to be nice, supportive, agreeable and stuff. In some places, politeness is the cultural norm. This sometimes leads to us saying yes to things that we actually don’t agree with and have no intention of working on, or moving forward as a group on a proposal that we know is too flawed to work.

A clear no. When a group is scared of saying “no,” it quickly ends up spread too thin. “No” is as important to realizing your vision as “yes.”

Developing Strategic Intentions Think of strategic intentions as a north star.

What I will add is that I think it’s really important to also clarify the places where there is not alignment on vision—be really clear about what is and what is not part of the shared collective vision of the group.

Identifying what your group can do well, is passionate about, and is needed—that’s the sweet spot. That’s your mission.

“Water has taught me how to be in the flow, to release and cleanse what no longer serves me or us. There is power in letting go what is not ours to carry, or what others in their unskillfulness, have tried to place upon us.” —Brenda Salgado

It may seem like nothing is changing, and then you look back and see that you have become a different person, or group, entirely. Cindy Wiesner115 once spoke of this as digestion time.

For organizations, I recommend three or four annual advances. (Calling them “retreats” when they are work sessions is disingenuous. Plan retreats too! Just don’t confuse them.) One can focus on reflection and evaluation; one can focus on applying lessons from reflection to the next period of time (planning); and one can be about big vision, meta discussions of the work, the field, the patterns emerging, skill development. Looking back, looking ahead, looking up and down.

Right now we are living inside the results of other peoples’ imaginations—people who couldn’t imagine Black people being free, fat girls being sexy, disabled people being leaders. People who could only imagine their own power and dominance. When more people imagine together, and then step from imagining into thinking through the structures and protocols of a society together, then more needs are attended to.

Grace actually spoke of this in her autobiography. For a long time she thought the most radical thing she could do was to hold tight to her political ideas.117 And at a certain point it dawned on her that if she held one idea as conditions changed around her, her ideas would no longer be relevant. And that, in fact, the most radical thing she could do was to keep evolving her ideas as new information came her way.

DARCI is a grid that allows you to organize the decisions in your group, organization, network or alliance, clarifying the Decider/Delegator, and who is Accountable, Responsible, Consulted, and Informed about decisions.

Example 2: Emergent Strategy Based Gathering Agenda120 Welcome (honor the Land, the place, the people) Introductions Overview of Goals, Agenda, Agreements Framing plenary: Why Us, Here, Now? Emergent Session Generation (generate ideas for sessions, organize by priority and interest) Emergent Sessions, 1 (vote with feet, ID facilitator and note taker) Emergent Sessions, 2 (for each subsequent session have a quick review for extended sessions, merged sessions, new sessions or other adaptations) Emergent Sessions, 3 Harvesting121 Making Meaning/Closing Plenary Closing with appreciations to each other and to the Land

Succession Planning Yes! The horizon for your group should include leadership transitions, as well as plans for what happens if any members of the team are suddenly unavailable for any number of reasons (a movement moment requires their attention, they get sick, someone in their family gets sick, etc.). Everyone should have an exit strategy from the day they walk in.

Transparency about who is doing what work helps the group relax. And “a relaxed body is the most powerful body.”122 The more mysterious the work is, the less resilient the group is.

Personal Practice We are always practicing something. Without intention, we are usually practicing what the dominant society wants us to practice—competing with each other to be cogs in a system that benefits the owning class, vaguely religious, vaguely patriotic. The invitation here is to “transform yourself to transform the world” inside your collective or group work.

This may include practices around decolonizing your life; studying Black feminist thinkers; living a zero-waste existence; practices around mindfulness and spirit, body health, and exercise; focusing; organizing life, or practices around being present with friends, family.

How does your collective vision show up in: how you hire? how you fire or transition staff? how you handle grievances and conflict? how and where you raise funds? how you handle budgeting the work (is it sustainable, abundant?)? how you make decisions (is this how you envision decisions being made? What do you need to be practicing?)? how you provide benefits and how empowered the group feels using them?

“How people are in the relationship is how they will be in the break-up.” My woe Jodie Tonita taught me this, and I have found it to be very useful in mediations. Not all mediations are “break-ups,” but they are usually a transformation of the relationship in some way.

One metaphor I use for mediation is that there is a wall, and the goal is to get on the same side of the wall, and look at it together. Sometimes to do this each side has to take turns “visiting” the other side of the wall. People may decide to stay on their side of the wall, but it helps to understand that the wall is not a forever wall, it can be crossed, circumvented, or even brought down. I will also encourage people to stop “building the wall” by looking for additional places of discontent.

Another metaphor I use for mediation is the “river of time.” I often find that people’s attention is flowing along the river of time. One person or group’s attention is flowing towards the past, towards what has already happened. They can’t see the present, or turn towards the future. Meanwhile the other person or group’s attention is flowing towards the future, and they don’t understand why things can’t move forward.

Basically, read Don Miguel Ruiz’s The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom. Rooted in Toltec wisdom, I would say everything in the book is necessary for a good life and a healthy group dynamic. These are universal agreements that I have found immensely liberating for facilitating and living in an interdependent system where we hurt each other all the time: Don’t make assumptions. Don’t take things personally. Be impeccable with your word. Always do your best.

“The essence of dialectical thinking is the ability to be self-critical. Being able to see that an idea you had or an activity you had engaged in which was correct at one stage can turn into its opposite at another stage; that whenever a person or an organization or a country is in crisis, it is necessary to look at your own concepts and be critical of them because they may have turned into traps.” —Grace Lee Boggs

Dialectical humanism suggests that mature humans actually need to be able to adjust beliefs and plans in the realm of changing conditions.

I know there is this idea that we grow less radical as we age, and that relinquishing radical positions is a way this manifests. This keeps people from allowing themselves to be open to their own new emotions, their new understandings. I think the truth is that, as we age, we realize the world is more complex, and we allow ourselves to get woven into that complexity. I am more radical now than I was ten years ago, although it may not look like it. I am more radical in my body, I am more radical in my clarity about the apocalyptic future and my belief that connection to each other is the most important thing to cultivate in the face of hopelessness—we don’t want to cling to outdated paradigms; we want to cling to each other and shift the paradigms.

The world is changing all the time. Octavia teaches: Why is the universe? To shape God. Why is...

Practice saying “yes” to the ideas that come from others, growing the idea with yes after yes. When you are tempted to say “no,”a try asking “how?” instead. Often a “no” is a way of expressing a fear or worry that something can’t work. “How?” is a collaborative question, inviting the creation process to keep going, to come up with a way for the idea to grow to the next stage.

no matter how empty the world seemed, no matter how degraded and used up the world appeared to us, we knew that anything was still possible. And, given the right circumstances, a new world was just as likely as an old one.” —Steve Fitch, Waking Life

when I turned to walk back, I looked for my footsteps. And in spite of the effort of the walk, my footsteps were gone, smoothed by the waves—it was as if I had never walked this length of sand. My walk was both meaningful and insignificant.