Mental model · Systems

Emergence

Emergence: Simple rules followed by many people produce behaviour that is in none of the rules. Ask which of those rules you could actually change.

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Simple rules followed by many people produce behaviour that is in none of the rules.

Try it now

Take a group behaviour that puzzles you. Write the simple rule each individual might be following that would produce it.

What to do with the answer

Ask which of those rules you could actually change. Addressing the behaviour directly usually fails.

Where it misleads

It is easy to invent a plausible rule that is not the real one. Treat your rule as a guess and look for a way to check it.