Emergent Strategy

Why I picked it up: I came across the phrase "moving at the speed of trust," referring to the pacing of social justice work. I have been struggling with how to talk about the pacing of inclusive work in museums, especially given how some audiences would respond more effectively to a more measured pace (versus a fast pace that might alienate them), and this phrase struck me as helpful. So, I followed the source and it led to this book.

What I learned: There were some key concepts that I found helpful in this book:
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• Emergent strategy: a strategy for building complex patterns and systems of change through relatively small interactions. I think this is a smart strategy because, in museums, it is those small, incremental building blocks of learning that helps us open minds to other perspectives … and more inclusive content.
• Imagination battle: the way our imaginations create fears, and we also have to imagine our way out of them. This is an interesting way to think about racism. White people who are actively racist are imagining how people of color could harm them … and anti-racists have to battle that by imagining a more equitable world. Where it becomes particularly fascinating is that what racist white people imagine as a fear is perceived, at times, to be what anti-racist people are actually striving for, which makes this work so hard.
• Moving at the "speed of trust": the incremental changes made in individual viewpoints towards inclusion is going to happen at different speeds for different people … some are ready for a fast pace, but others will get there too if we adjust the pace to a slower one, giving them time to trust, process, understand, and address their individual fears. The point is, if we go too fast, we'll lose our opportunity entirely, so we have to move at the speed of trust. And museums have a lot of trust, so we should consider how to use that trust to result in the most impact. That may mean a slower pace than is fair (because it isn't fair!), but one that actually gets us to the goal. This is a marathon, not a sprint. 

While these concepts excited me … the rest of the book, to be honest, was a letdown. I wanted to love this book and tell everyone to read it … but I didn't. Overall, I felt the book meandered and needed a strong editor, and when there were sections that were super-clear and concise I became even more frustrated because the rest of the book wasn't similarly clear. I skimmed a lot.  There were also whole sections that felt very self-help … and while that isn't a bad thing (and is often a good thing), that wasn't what I was looking for.

Yet there were also alternate approaches to others and societal issues that I have not considered before, and I am now chewing on. I don't know that they will ever become my approaches, but I am willing to consider them as valid.

Read or skip? Likely skip. I pulled from it what I felt was relevant (the concepts above), but I found my frustrations with the writing were enough to make me not recommend. Unless you found something of particular interest in this review, then skip. I'm still glad to have at least skimmed it.

Full citation: Brown, Adrienne Maree. Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds. Chico, CA: AK Press, 2017.

Have a suggestion for my reading list?  Email it to me at susie (at) wilkeningconsulting (dot) com.

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