Navigating Change: Emergent vs. Adaptive Strategy
A few months ago, I wrote about Emergent Strategy by adrienne maree brown as a toolkit for navigating transformation with curiosity, compassion, and courage by learning from the Earth’s natural patterns of change. Since then, the idea of strategy as something organic and evolving has stayed with me.
More recently, while working on a conference paper about program evaluation best practices in the energy sector, we found ourselves exploring evaluation models from entirely different industries. One standout example came from the healthcare field: a hospital that had successfully implemented adaptive strategy to drive organizational change. The contrast (and overlap) between emergent and adaptive approaches sparked deeper reflection on how strategy actually plays out in complex environments.
In a time of rapid technological shifts, climate urgency, and evolving policy landscapes, energy organizations should be rethinking how they approach strategy. Traditional planning models often fall short in our complex environments. That’s where emergent and adaptive strategies come in; they are two different approaches that both prioritize learning, flexibility, and responsiveness.
So, what’s the difference?
Emergent Strategy
“Emergence emphasizes critical connections over critical mass, building authentic relationships, listening with all the senses of the body and the mind.”
Emergent strategy is not planned in advance. It arises organically from actions, decisions, and patterns that evolve over time. It’s discovered rather than designed, often shaped by frontline insights and unexpected developments. This perspective is especially relevant in community-based energy work, where relationships and responsiveness often matter more than scale. An example from our industry could be when a solar company notices that rural customers are using panels not just for electricity, but also for water pumping. Over time, the company pivots to offer integrated solar-water systems. This shift wasn’t planned, but it instead emerged from customer behavior.
Adaptive Strategy
“You don’t plan strategy. You learn it.”
Mintzberg, a lead thinker on adaptive strategy, emphasizes that strategy is not a fixed roadmap. Instead, it’s a journey shaped by learning and experience. This applies to both emergent and adaptive strategy, but here’s the difference: Adaptive strategy is intentional but flexible. It starts with a guiding vision or initial ideas and evolves through continuous learning and responsiveness to changing conditions. It’s especially useful in complex systems where outcomes are uncertain. For example, imagine that a utility launches a grid modernization initiative with a broad framework. As it rolls out, it adapts based on community feedback, regulatory changes, and new technology. Along the way, it keeps some elements, discards others, and adds new ones. That is adaptive strategy.
Diving Deeper
Understanding the differences between emergent and adaptive strategies is just the beginning. Both offer valuable frameworks for navigating complexity and change, especially in contemporary times like ours where uncertainty is the norm, not the exception.
In a future article, I’ll explore how to choose between these approaches. I’ll also share practical guidance on when and how to use each, and what to look for when evaluating their effectiveness. I might even propose a new, sequential strategy model that draws on the strengths of both.
Stay tuned—there’s much more to come! In the meantime, our team is here to support your strategy needs. Are you stuck trying to solve a big, audacious problem? Looking for support in learning how to operationalize a guiding vision? Let us know how we can help—just email admin@encolorconsulting.com.