Emergent constructs

The dictionary says a construct is:

1. something constructed.
2. an image, idea, or theory, especially a complex one formed from a number of simpler elements.

So this method is about helping people bring simple elements together to represent complex ideas. The constructs built using this exercise are emergent because they emerge from the interactions in a group of people, and that is important because it enables the constructs to capture essential elements of what matters about the topic at hand.

Using emergent constructs to help people tell stories has two functions. First, it helps people dig deeper into unarticulated truths to get at stories that better reveal useful insights. Second, when an area is especially difficult to speak about because people are afraid of being blamed or of blaming others, emergent constructs can create a distancing abstraction that makes it safer to speak out.

Basic constructs

The four types of emergent construct I've often seen created are:

• situations like "on the ropes"
• themes like "can't get no respect"
• personifications like "unscrupulous opportunist"
• values like "we're all in the same boat"

You can either decide which and how many construct types you want to ask people to think about, or you can give individual groups the choice. I would suggest no more than two types for most groups, though a particularly interested group may create three.

Process

The process of getting to emergent constructs involves four stages: collecting elements, clustering them, describing the clusters with attributes, then clustering the attributes into constructs.

Collecting elements

Ask people to tell stories about a topic, either in general or using a story-eliciting question (as described in the section on asking for stories). While one person is telling a story, other people in the group should be writing down any elements they hear in the stories, thus:

• for situations: conditions or circumstances or states of affairs
• for themes: issues or problems
• for personifications: characters or people or players or forces in play
• for values: actions or behaviors

As with the history exercise, people should write the elements on sticky notes (or if the exercise is being done virtually, they can create objects in a presentation program). People should just jot the elements down very briefly, not think about it, and not censor: anything is allowed. If you are deriving more than one type of construct at once, ask people to use a different color of sticky note for each type of element (e.g., blue for conditions, red for people).

As people tell stories, elements they note may remind them of other stories, which is good because the diversity of the input will be increased. They should keep going until they have collected at least twenty or thirty elements of each type they were asked to collect.

Clustering elements

When each group has finished collecting elements, they should place them on a wall (or on the screen) in random locations. Next people should take the elements and cluster them, which means placing them together "when they seem related" in any way. People should discuss what belongs together as they work, and stop when they feel they have reached a consensus. Ask people to keep the number of clusters in the range of four to seven.

If more than one group collected elements, you will usually want all the groups to cluster their elements together. But if the groups are different in some way (authority, background, etc) you may want to keep the whole exercise separate and derive two sets of constructs, so you can compare them.

A warning: don't let people categorize the items instead of clustering them. Once in a while you get a group that starts marking off areas with labels and placing elements inside them. It's better to stop people from doing that if you can. What you are trying to do here is help meaning emerge in many dimensions at once. Creating categories restricts the groups of items to only one dimension of meaning, which will not be useful in exploring a complex topic.

When the element clusters are complete, give each one a number, then write that number on each sticky note in the cluster. You'll need that information later.

Describing clusters with attributes

Using a new set of empty sticky notes, ask people to describe each cluster with several attributes, which should be balanced between positive and negative (say three positive and three negative). What this step does is move from specific elements that came out of real stories to abstracted meanings that apply to broader understandings of the topic in general. Some suggested questions to ask to get attributes:

• for situations: What are the opportunities and dangers in the situation?
• for themes: What would an optimist and a pessimist say about the issue?
• for personifications: What would the character's best friend and worst enemy say about them?
• for values: How would someone who values the thing describe it, and how would someone who does not value it describe it?

Write on each attribute which element cluster (number) it came from.

Clustering attributes

Once there are several attributes per element cluster, remove the element clusters and put them away. Then take the attributes and place them randomly on the empty wall (or screen) and ask people to cluster them in the same way they did the elements. Ask people to give the resulting clusters (again four to seven is best) memorable names.

Using the constructs to tell more stories

There are two ways to use emergent constructs to help people tell more stories. You can just let people talk about the constructs and record any stories that come up, maybe giving people a few hints along the way, like asking "Do any of these things remind anyone of anything that has happened?" Or you can continue the exercise with a bit of role-playing. You can ask people to use the constructs in fictional scenarios like the following:

• two personifications can be placed into a relationship
• a personification can be placed into a situation
• a personification can be asked to tell a story about a theme
• people can be asked to create a story in which particular values and beliefs clash

and so on. There are endless possibilities when combining constructs for exploring the landscape of emotional truths. Using them in this way requires a group willing to play along, and with some groups that option is unavailable, but when possible it can be fruitful.

Variations on the basic form

Though I've only seen situations, themes, personifications, and values used in story projects (probably because they are the broadest categories), if you look at the basic elements of a story (setting, characters, plot, point), more types should be possible.

1. A story's setting provides situations and themes, which have already been covered in the basic form.
2. A story's characters can provide personifications and values, but also relationships like "cat and mouse", motivations like "climbing the corporate ladder", and beliefs like "nothing we do will make any difference".
3. A story's plot can provide situations, but also transitions like "eye-opening realization".
4. A story's point can provide themes, values, beliefs and rules of thumb like "don't look back".

If any of these additional types seem useful, you can try asking people to generate constructs of some of these other types. An additional set of element types is:

• for relationships: connections or interactions
• for motivations: intentions or desires or wants or interests
• for beliefs: actions or behaviors (same as values)
• for transitions: changes or shifts or surprises or turning points or transformations
• for rules of thumb: mottoes or sayings or maxims or slogans or unwritten rules or morals

An additional set of attribute questions is:

• for relationships: How does the connection aid and hinder its members?
• for motivations: What are the benefits and detriments of having the thing that is wanted or intended?
• for beliefs: What would lead a person to do the action, and what would lead a person to avoid doing it?
• for transitions: How does the turning point change things for the better and for the worse?
• for rules of thumb: What would somebody who lives by this rule, and somebody who thinks it's useless, say about it?

You can also come up with your own types of construct. There is no fixed list; if it you test it and it works for you, great.

For further reading

This exercise is also described (with some differences) in the open source method document Social construction of emergent properties located on the Cognitive Edge web site. It is also described in the Brambles in a Thicket book chapter (Kurtz and Snowden), available on the Cognitive Edge web site.