Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds

by Adrienne Maree Brown

“Emergence is the way complex systems and patterns arise out of a multiplicity of relatively simple interactions.”2

Emergence emphasizes critical connections over critical mass, building authentic relationships, listening with all the senses of the body and the mind.

We tend to slip out of togetherness the way we slip out of the womb, bloody and messy and surprised to be alone. And clever—able to learn with our whole bodies the ways of this world.

Woven throughout her work are two things: 1) a coherent visionary exploration of humanity and 2) emergent strategies for being better humans.

Emergent strategies are ways for humans to practice complexity and grow the future through relatively simple interactions.

But what I noticed is that her leaders are adaptive—riding change like dolphins ride the ocean. Adaptive but also intentional, like migrating birds who know how to get where they’re going even when a storm pushes them a hundred miles off course.

So, ok, but what EXACTLY is emergent strategy?

Small is good, small is all. (The large is a reflection of the small.) Change is constant. (Be like water).34 There is always enough time for the right work. There is a conversation in the room that only these people at this moment can have.35 Find it. Never a failure, always a lesson.36 Trust the People. (If you trust the people, they become trustworthy).37 Move at the speed of trust.38 Focus on critical connections more than critical mass—build the resilience by building the relationships. Less prep, more presence.

What you pay attention to grows.

Element Nature of Element Fractal The Relationship Between Small and Large Adaptative How We Change Interdependence and Decentralization Who We Are and How We Share Non-linear and Iterative The Pace and Pathways of Change Resilience and Transformative Justice How We Recover and Transform Creating More Possibilities How We Move Towards Life

A fractal is a never-ending pattern. Fractals are infinitely complex patterns that are self-similar across different scales. They are created by repeating a simple process over and over in an ongoing feedback loop.

Burn out. Overwork, underpay, unrealistic expectations. Organizational and movement splitting. Personal drama disrupting movements. Mission drift, specifically in the direction of money. Stagnation—an inability to make decisions.

what we practice at the small scale sets the patterns for the whole system.

In a fractal conception, I am a cell-sized unit of the human organism, and I have to use my life to leverage a shift in the system by how I am, as much as with the things I do.

I am living a life I don’t regret A life that will resonate with my ancestors,41 and with as many generations forward as I can imagine. I am attending to the crises of my time with my best self, I am of communities that are doing our collective best to honor our ancestors and all humans to come.

(Game of Thrones watchers? Winter is here, and it’s balmy.)

adaptation: a change in a plant or animal that makes it better able to live in a particular place or situation; the process of changing to fit some purpose or situation: the process of adapting intention: the thing that you plan to do or achieve: an aim or purpose

In movement work, I have been facilitating groups to shift from a culture of strategic planning to one of strategic intentions—what are our intentions, informed by our vision? What do we need to be and do to bring our vision to pass? How do we bring those intentions to life throughout every change, in every aspect of our work?

As an individual, developing your capacity for adaptation can mean assessing your default reactions to change, and whether those reactions create space for opportunity, possibility, and continuing to move towards your vision.

Interdependence is mutual dependence between things. If you study biology, you’ll discover that there is a great deal of interdependence between plants and animals. “Inter-” means “between,” so interdependence is dependence between things, the quality or condition of being interdependent, or mutually reliant, on each other.57 Decentralization: the dispersion or distribution of functions or powers, the delegation of power.

Humans are unique because we compete when it isn’t necessary. We could reason our way to more sustainable processes, but we use our intelligence to outsmart each other. We compete for fun, for ego.

It means we have to decentralize our idea of where solutions and decisions happen, where ideas come from.

If you are in the funding world and your primary relationship with those you fund is with the executive director, if you have not had a meaningful conversation with other staff members or community members, you may be stricken with charismitis—relational laziness induced by charismatic brilliance.

Because that is what we are creating, a world where we can feel ourselves and each other and do less harm and generate more freedom.

no government, political party, or corporation is going to care for us, so we have to remember how to care for each other.

There is such urgency in the multitude of crises we face, it can make it hard to remember that in fact it is urgency thinking (urgent constant unsustainable growth) that got us to this point, and that our potential success lies in doing deep, slow, intentional work.

It didn’t feel like a formation, it felt like interdependent murmuration towards a shared intention—they flew towards the ball.

Transformative Justice:

Safety, Healing, and Agency For All

Here are a few signs that you may be in an abusive movement, work, family, friendship, or romantic dynamic:

Here are some reasons we swallow our truths:

Liberated Relationships:

Movement moments are emergent, but there are systemic ways to cultivate networks and collective capacity to strategize and act together in nimble and powerful ways when those moments arise.

The structures of our organizations, campaigns, and coalitions don’t support the kind of experimentation, coordination, and collaboration we need.

we must summon the courage to believe we are the ones we have been waiting for, take risks, and experiment towards solutions.

The goal can be relationship building—this is often the most necessary piece of work in terms of strengthening a group’s resilience and capacity to move together.

Jemez Principles for Democratic Organizing

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.

Group Agreements

The proposal-based method has three basic steps:

Loretta Ross teaches us that, “When people think the same idea and move in the same direction, that’s a cult. When people think many different ideas and move in one direction, that’s a movement.”116 Studying together with a respect for our ecosystem of ideas is movement.

clarify approaches to conflict and difference: