Loving Engaging Emergence by Peggy Holman. I only just started it, but I’m already using her framework for understanding change. Holman categorizes disruptions to a system that cause change into three types:
- Steady State: a disruption you can ignore or fix with a small patch (just fix the grammar in your email)
- Incremental Shifts: When you can revise the basic system, maybe significantly, but the system itself still works (add a paragraph to your email)
- Emergence: When the whole blasted thing needs to be rethought because the basic principles aren’t working (rewrite your email).
You know when you get that nagging feeling that the project, meeting, or problem you are working on just isn’t coming together? Too often we just try to patch it (type 1), thinking we can band-aid our way to victory. Now, I’m gonna ask myself which type of problem I’m dealing with before I start mucking about with grammar.
Holman, Peggy, (2010). Engaging Emergence: Turning Upheaval into Opportunity. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
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