Comments on: Emergence Part 1 – So what is really going on?

By: Jon Husband

Jon Husband — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 15:12:56 +0000

Emergence happens every day in organizations.

I agree with this …

What I think I and others are responding to is the opportunity(ies) on offer for more rapid emergence and / or a real and observable “state change” in how people do or don’t work together, in the arena of what is coloquially known as Ent2.0.

I am guessing that these opportunities available via an interconnected and interlinked infrastructure for exchanges of information and ideas (and agreed-upon-via link-enabled-communication objectives, tasks and deadlines, for example) are what have any number of analysts, researchers and pundits thinking, writing and talking about ‘emergence’.

By: Rob Paterson

Rob Paterson — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 14:59:11 +0000

I go into some detail about what a social container is in the next 2 parts

By: Larry Irons

Larry Irons — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 14:54:31 +0000

Emergence happens every day in organizations. Anthony Giddens work as well as that of sociologists/anthropologists studying informal organization began pointing it out as early as the 1950s. In my mind you need to tell us what you mean by a “social container” before even starting a discussion on what the “best” one might look like.

By: Gavin Heaton

Gavin Heaton — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 11:55:45 +0000

Makes me think that this is where immersion in a conversational torrent (like Twitter for example) creates, rather than confusion, but a kind of emergent logic. As you point out, it is easy to be susceptible and vulnerable early in the process, but once you have reached a certain level of comfort – where culture + touch/connection + pattern begin to merge – participants are able to thrive in the complexity. Very interesting!

By: Jon Husband

Jon Husband — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 16:16:36 +0000

Re: Rob’s last comment pointing to Johnson’s work ….

Bingo !

By: Rob Paterson

Rob Paterson — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 16:11:15 +0000

Here is the snip that Jon pointed too:

Jan 04
Permalink
Emergence (steven johnson) p222-3
MANAGEMENT AS FEEDBACK FOR ADAPTIVENESS

…”emergent systems can be brilliant innovators, and they tend to be more adaptable to sudden change than more rigid hierarchical models” “

A number of companies…have experimented with neural-net-like organisational structures…building a more cellular, distributed network of small units”

“units can assemble into larger clusters if they need to, and those clusters have the power to set their own objectives. The role of senior management grows less important in these models
-less concerned with establishing a direction for the company, and more involved with encouraging the clusters that generate the best ideas”

“the vision for the company’s future comes from below, out of the ever-shifting alliances of smaller groups. Senior management simply provides a feedback mechanism-in the form of bonuses, options, or increased resources-ensuring that the most productive clusters thrive”

- as long as this does not encourage knowledge hoarding between clusters, as they are competing for resources

- but i feel this will increase coordination between clusters as they are more aware of the happenings in their respective clusters

- this is also more autonomous and optimal use of knowledgeworkers as they will gravitate to the jobs they like and are good at (also good for morale and employee retention)

- if goals between clusters are clashing i guess this is where management step in as the negative feedback mechanism
bit.ly (Short URL)

By: Rob Paterson

Rob Paterson — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 16:09:35 +0000

Very helpful Jon – worth a repost here – will help get the broader conversation going

I am planning a new site maybe called the “Emergence project” where those of us interested can contribute to an Emergent Discovery of how best to do this

Bootstrapping to the nth degree

By: Jon Husband

Jon Husband — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 15:24:09 +0000

How does this happen? The child needs a few simple but essential environmental factors to be in place. I will come to these at the end of this post becuase they are directly related to what may be needed to have Social Media offer us this opportunity for Emergence as well. This is pretty much one of the key points Steven Johnson makes in the book Emergence: the Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities and Software .. a few simple rules and then let the practicing of increasingly complex and dense interaction start the work of building a culture that is adapted to the new environment. I took a look at this a year or so ago over on the AppGap blog in a post titled "On the Ongoing Emergence of New Forms of Organizational Structure and Governance".