There’s two concepts in Systems Theory that are really useful if you want to build effective teams and collaborations.
A ‘system’ is a network of relationships created when different elements work together.
A forest is a system — various trees, plants, fungi, insects, animals, birds, minerals and much more interconnect to create the system we call ‘Forest’.
A tree is also a system.
A human cell is a system.
Each human is a system.
When two people get together they form a new system — a collaboration, family, argument or whatever else emerges.
Ecosystem. Society. Community. Office environment. Business. Classroom.
All systems.
The first concept that’s useful to understand is the idea of ‘Emergent Properties’
An emergent property of a system is a quality or capacity the system has which can’t be found in any of its individual parts. Something is created by the system that isn’t there in any of the original elements.
A phrase often used to describe this is: ‘the whole is greater than the sum of its parts’.
Consciousness can be seen as an emergent property — it’s not to be found (at least in the way we usually use the term) in any individual part of the brain or body. It emerges from the interaction of many ‘non-conscious’ parts of our organism.
It’s an emergent property because no one can point at a particular part of a human Body/Mind and say: ‘that’s where consciousness is’.
Emergent properties appear at the ‘highest’ level of a system, growing out of elements at lower levels.
There’s another concept that’s useful: ‘Downward Causality’.
This refers to how an emergent property of a system (at the top level) changes the elements from which it emerges.
Consciousness emerges from the interaction between parts of our body. Being conscious enables us to change the parts of our body that consciousness emerged from.
This, in turn, alters our consciousness.
(That’s the heart of the health and fitness industry — your consciousness observes that you feel below par, so you change how you eat or you decide to exercise more. This changes the health of individual body parts which alters your self-perception).
The combination of emergent properties and downward causality creates a feedback loop.
This can either be a productive, development feedback loop, or can lead to decay and destruction.
My interest has always been in the nature of collaboration. I first got involved in training actors and directing shows because I was fascinated by the ‘magic’ of ensemble.
Over decades I developed ways to train individuals to collaborate, and to create structures/systems which best support collaboration.
In the final section of my first book, ‘Encountering Ensemble’ (Methuen, 2013), I wrote:
‘(Ensemble) emerges from a precise combination of inter-related actions…. To endure it must be continually maintained…. It is not a product but a process.’ (p. 412–13)
This combination of ideas can be applied as we consider life outside the world of performance. It applies to forming and running teams, collaborations and relationships in business, institutions and community development spheres.
It suggests three key things:
1. A collaboration is not the responsibility of any individual, but emerges from the relationship between individuals.
2. Conditions for collaboration must continually be maintained and nurtured. This involves attention both to the individuals within the collaboration, and to how/where they inter-connect.
3. Individuals create collaborations (emergence) and also individuals are changed by collaboration (downward causation).
If you’re responsible for a collaboration, or for managing a department or team, whether running a business, structuring a learning environment or forging community relationships, to improve outcomes, ask yourself these three questions:
1. Are the right individuals in place? (In other worlds, are the ingredients right for the system to work?)
2. How are the structural interconnections between individuals/elements being nurtured, sustained and enhanced, to try to ensure that what emerges from the system is GREATER than the sum of individual inputs?
3. How are individuals being changed by being part of the system? How can you ensure contibutors are changed for the better (and so will change the outcomes of the team for the better), not changed for the worse (leading to an inevitable deterioration of output.)
To pay attention to any one of these questions without the other two can fatally undermine the effectiveness of what you’re trying to achieve.
An effective ‘team’ is not a THING — it’s a dynamic process.
If you want people to BE A TEAM, enable them to DO TEAM.
Pay attention to each individual’s needs and to the structures through which they interconnect with one another.
This is a core understanding if you want to build effective teams, creative collaboration and longterm staff-retention
After thirty years performing, directing and teaching around the world, now I coach and mentor artists and others to live in joy and creativity. More information about me here: www.johnbritton.co
I’ve space for some new 1-on-1 clients at the moment. If you’re considering individual guidance on liberating your creativity and bringing yourself into closer alignment with the life you want to live, email me to find a time when we can chat. No obligation, just conversation.
Email: [email protected]