Emerge: Innovation Design Task 4
The task of Emergence is to make the radical possibilities drawn forth into a nascent state of existence during Deviation - real, concrete and impactful. Emergence is a highly strategic and experimental phase of innovation where the goal is no longer to deviate but to make the deviations transform our current reality.
This happens by probing and testing and co-evolving both a community and a “product”. This “product” — whatever it might be — a thing, a service, an event — is ultimately an ecosystem. And it is the ecosystem’s emergence and ever evolving state of thriving, that Emerge brings to life. The practices of Emerge are sequential and highly iterative — to make anything emerge and become transformative is to test, shift and repeat; many, many times.
12. Emergent Transition: Emergence begins by transitioning from a world of qualitative change to the world of developmental change. Slowly a concrete ecosystem needs to be developed.
During the activity of transition one probes and tests critical points in existing systems to see how it responds. These unique and unpredictable responses guide the process as they reveal emergent pathways and leverage points in the system. In the activity of probing a new collective — a new community and culture begins to configure around the activity.
13. Coevolution: Things are starting to cohere in surprising ways: new practices are emerging alongside a budding community and culture. It is this nascent ecosystem that one needs to co-evolve into an ever more stable and fully realized state.
There is a relay that emerges between people, practices, tools, ideas, and values that is leading towards the founding of new ways of doing and being. Much of this will be a surprise. The practices of coevolution need to embrace these surprises and transform along with them.
14. Ecosystem Building: Novel worlds are not ideas — they are coherent and stable assemblages of interconnected networks of tools, practices, resources, values, and communities.
Great care and attention has to be given to supporting and stabilizing this as it emerges in a “spontaneous” manner. Ecosystem building is this practice, and in a very real sense, the practices of Coevolution and Ecosystem Building never end — things persist because we make it possible.
15. Amplification: The effectiveness of any system relies on many amplifying and reinforcing feedback loops. These need to loop into new territories and possibilities as well as loop-back deeper into the process. Ideally one is looping back into the Disruptive task to renew the novel potentials of your ecosystem.
[Feedback: When nearing the end of a task, it is critical to set up a more formal check-in or feedback session. This should be designed in a manner that is specific to the context.]
