By Dania De La Cruz
Adrienne maree brown is a pleasure activist, facilitator, doula, speaker, and writer from Detroit. Her book, “Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing World” is as much about self-love, self-reflection, and personal growth as it is about creating change at an organizational and even global level. brown (who uses lower-case letters for her name) uniquely draws on a wide range of sources throughout her book, including quotes, interviews, the values and principles of numerous non-profit organizations, and her own personal experiences. She has been influenced by many individuals, such as science fiction author Octavia Butler and her friend Grace Lee Boggs.
The author speaks about the notion that changing oneself is intertwined with changing the world. This reminds me of Mahatma Gandhi’s famous quote that states, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” I’ve heard many speakers use some version of this quote. Although it isn’t necessarily a novel concept, brown makes an interesting fresh argument.
She asserts that actions, behaviors, and patterns at a smaller scale are tied to what occurs at a larger scale, which she calls fractals. Just as in nature, people rely on the symbiotic nature of the group as a whole, versus that of the individual. For example, people’s relationships in an organization reflect the relationships in our society. In order to create the desired relationships on a larger scale, we have to start with creating positive relationships at an individual level. Otherwise, we’re trying to produce results that are non-existent in our own lives—which is impossible.
“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”
― Leo Tolstoy
Nature’s Teachings
She makes a brilliant connection between nature, science fiction, and social justice. A prominent theme of her work is interdependence in nature and how it models how people can work together to fight for a cause. Plants and animals rely on each other to survive, for instance, like the relationship between flowers and hummingbirds or that of trees that need each other to grow but are still distinctive on their own.
Conversely, as humans, we believe we have to do everything ourselves and compete against each other even though it’s sometimes unwarranted. We can learn from plants and animals that supporting each other does not take away from our greatness. brown also references Octavia Butler and how science fiction allows us to escape our world and imagine a different reality. This gives us a glimpse of what is possible not just in fiction, but in our lives.
Leadership
brown’s discussion about leadership is insightful and inspiring. She describes the challenges of charismatic leaders. On the one hand, these leaders can use their power to advance a movement. For her, being seen as a rock star was healing because her voice was previously not heard. However, being held in such high regard can be counterproductive since individuals have to work hard to maintain their status as the charismatic leader in the organization. They are less comfortable with making mistakes and connecting with their vulnerability.
In addition, people believe the movement is directed by one leader rather than by a group of people who each play a role. Those who do not fit into the mold of the charismatic leader sometimes go unnoticed. brown asserts, “Lifting people on personality replicates the dynamics of power and hierarchy that movements claim to be dismantling” (p.100).
Indeed, while some social justice advocates are fighting for everyone to have power and a voice, favoring individuals because of their personality dismisses the wisdom and power of others. As someone who tends to be quiet, I used to think I could never be a leader because I didn’t have the loudest voice in the room. It wasn’t until I joined Public Allies and read a book on introversion that my definition of a leader started to change. Even then, there are days when my ego has me thinking that I need to be like other people to be a leader, so it’s reassuring to know that I can be myself.
brown also warns against relying too heavily on one person as the leader of a group because this can often be calamitous when the person leaves. The leadership section outlines the importance of working collaboratively within an organization and distributing power among the members. One of the many reasons I love Adios Barbie is because the power is shared. Rather than one person being seen as the star, everyone’s work and opinions are valued.
Facilitation Tools
In her last and longest chapter, brown offers emergent strategies for group discussions. The section is practical for readers who facilitate group discussions and hope to create organizational change. Presumably, people who read this book are interested in social justice work. However, brown’s advice can be as functional for someone working in a non-profit as it would be for anyone who works in any organization where they have to work with others, ranging from business to the medical field.
brown provides multiple strategies for mediating conflict and working together as an organization. For example, she encourages her readers to create and subscribe to a shared vision with others in the organization and to especially include the individuals most impacted by the issues in the creation of solutions. She urges people to welcome differences in opinions to ease the conflicts and tension that may arise when people disagree, which allows folks to explore common ground.
She also suggests having a flexible agenda that leaves room for conversations. To do this people draw or write out their thoughts on blank paper, to reflect on the changes in the organizations. It’s also recommended to have a “Brag and Swag Wall” for people to celebrate positive outcomes and lessons learned. The downside of having numerous tools to choose from is that it can be overwhelming to remember and implement all of them at once. Readers might find it useful to start off with a few of them and then gradually add more. Since no summary is provided, readers might want to take notes as they read along and make a list of the various strategies.
As with many self-help books, readers will not improve their group facilitation skills by simply glancing over the emergent strategies—they have to apply them. I’ve heard many times about the importance of having group agreements, a common goal and shared vision, or ensuring that everyone’s voice is included. Some of her strategies are not necessarily groundbreaking, but brown does an excellent job of adding her unique insights. Her techniques serve as a reminder of tools a facilitator can use to move an organization forward.
Readers who plan to facilitate discussions in the future might find this chapter helpful—but probably to a lesser extent than current facilitators who can apply the tools of change immediately, making them more relevant and applicable to their work.
brown cites multiple individuals from diverse backgrounds throughout her book. One quote that was profound is by Paul Ferrini from Big Island, Hawaii:
“Your life is your spiritual path. Don’t be quick to abandon it for bigger and better experiences. You are getting exactly the experiences you need to grow. If your growth seems to be slow or uneventful for you, it is because you have not fully embraced the situations and relationships at hand. To know the self is to allow everything, to embrace the totality of who we are—all that we think and feel, all that we fear, all that we love” (p.76).
This quote serves as a reminder to stay grounded in the present moment, find self-compassion, and self-acceptance as we continue on our personal and social justice journeys.
Meditation
brown also provides some simple but useful words of wisdom. For instance, she realized it was more effective for her to lie down rather than sit down when she meditates. She only wrote a few sentences about this in particular, but it was impactful. I used to believe I had to force myself to sit down so I could mediate the “right” way, even though sometimes sitting down didn’t seem to work too well for me. I discovered I am allowed to lie down.
In fact, when meditating I can rest in any position that is comfortable for me. In a society where we think we have to do things a certain way or be like everyone else to succeed, it’s empowering to choose what works best for me, even if most people are doing the opposite. This seemingly trivial realization is transformational. As brown points out, folks committed to social justice issues are doing work that matters, but we need to have the energy to be able to focus our attention on solving those problems.
Meditation calms the mind so we can come up with innovative solutions. Any individual can learn something from reading the book overall, regardless of whether or not they intend on doing social justice work.