Stories of Emergence

‘The only word you need to understand in systems thinking is Emergence.’

I received this piece of advice early on in my systems thinking journey, but I did not give it much attention until I started to apply systems thinking in my work and in my everyday life. The concept of emergence gradually became central to my world view.

Let me clarify what I mean by emergence.

A definition of Emergence

The English dictionary defines emergence as the process of coming into existence, or of becoming visible after being concealed.

But in systems thinking, it has a deeper meaning. Emergence describes situations where the whole is more than the sum of its parts. In other words, new properties arise from the interaction of individual parts over time.

You cannot predict these properties by examining each of the parts separately, in the same way that you cannot experience the speed of a car by studying its separate parts, you cannot explain love by analysing demographics, and you cannot predict a person’s life based on their genes.

There is more to it than putting the parts together.

One of my favourite ways to introduce the concept of emergence is through cake!