Attractor Patterns

When I first encountered attractors—strange and other kinds—I thought they were cool. Even more than that, I thought they were the key to the next generation of change paradigms. I still think that may be true, but I seldom talk about them anymore. I almost never teach them because it is so hard to understand them well and very easy to understand them badly. The only reason I am talking about them now is that I cannot think of a better way to explain what I see in this emerging present. So, here goes. 

We are accustomed to thinking about change as it happens in time. This happened, then this, then this, then . . . .  We focus on a thing and where it is (or isn’t) in space. That is fine for a ball rolling down the stairs or a project moving toward completion. It utterly fails when we talk about a child learning to read, a rising dictator, or an unstable economy. For those, we need a more subtle and nuanced way to think about, talk about, and influence change. That is when we need attractor patterns.   

Attractor patterns . . .

• Capture the state of the whole system, not just an object
• Consider the changing relationship between any variables EXCEPT time and space
• Map the patterns that emerge across time

You can probably see why they are so hard to understand!  I am not going into details today about phase space and nonlinear time series analysis or Lyapunov numbers. You can explore those technical topics in many places. The most accessible—and fun—one I’ve found is in The Turbulent Mirror by Briggs and Peat. Enjoy!

What I do want to talk about is the experience of seeing, understanding, and influencing two of the four kinds of attractor patterns: Point attractors and strange attractors.

The physical-space equivalent of a point attractor pattern is a marble in a round-bottomed bowl, as represented in this image. No matter where the marble is placed or how it is set in motion, over time it will end up at the bottom of the bowl. In high-dimension phase space and across time, a point attractor maps a process where the system tends to converge on a single point. Think of high school graduation, retirement, a wedding (or divorce), a demagogue, or violent extremism. In all these cases, multiple factors in the system collude to generate an observable outcome. There doesn’t have to be a single cause or a clear causal pattern or sequence of events because the entire system is poised to move things along toward the ultimate conclusion.

This is the historical picture of our human systems dynamic’s community. When someone got connected, they would migrate toward Royce, me, and the HSD Institute. Each member of the community was also invited to create their own local point attractor pattern, and many did—collaborating with other HSD Associates, teaching HSD-informed classes in their fields, and/or using HSD in their practices. Still, the dominant system dynamic has been driven toward the center of the field—the HSD Institute, Royce, and/or me. 

This pattern has a variety of benefits. It gives direction, encourages coherence, conserves resources, energizes development, and raises visibility. The risks are many, as well. It constrains what is possible, requires a stable center, depends on a guru-type leader, and reduces diversity. The natural life cycle of a point attractor pattern in an open system is that it absorbs what it can, then it self-destructs. This natural evolution can generate one of the three other kinds of attractor patterns:

• Random attractor pattern, when the pattern dissolves, and ultimately no pattern is discernable
• Periodic attractor pattern, when multiple point attractor patterns emerge to compete for resources, and the system bounces from one to another
• Strange attractor pattern, when a complex pattern is recognizable, but it also offers an infinite number of possibilities

Strange attractors are just as the name implies—strange. The physical-world example is a dripping faucet. At first, you cannot see (or hear) a pattern at all. The system’s behavior seems to be random in normal space and time. When plotted in phase space (see Briggs and Peat), a fascinating pattern emerges. It is not random. It has a boundary and a recognizable structure, but it allows for infinite possibilities or variabilities within its bounds. Over time, you can predict the behavior of the system, as a whole, but it is impossible to predict any particular motion at any particular time or place. 

We will do everything we can to nudge the next generation of the HSD community toward the strange attractor pattern. In fact, as we look around the world today, we see a strange attractor already appearing. The emerging strange attractor pattern grows as individuals and groups begin to connect their individual point attractors. A group in India shares HSD broadly to new individuals and groups as they use the CDE model to talk with youth about leadership. A coach in Europe talks with other coaches around the world about using HSD in coaching practices. In fields like healthcare, sustainability, education, and Agile, groups are finding each other to build and share their own unique applications of HSD. All we have to do is nurture this emerging strange attractor pattern.

What will it mean to set conditions for the HSD strange attractor pattern to continue to emerge and evolve over time?  I am not sure. The community is in Adaptive Action to find out. These are some things we think we know for sure today.

• Simple Rules allow for individual freedom and systemic coherence of strange attractor patterns.
• The CDE of Pattern Logic (implicit and explicit; intentional and accidental) will set conditions for whatever emerges in this self-organizing system.
• The pattern will be fractal, recognizable in the part, whole, and greater whole.
• Everyone in the system will contribute to the pattern as it emerges. It will depend on each person in each place.
• It will take time for the pattern of the whole to manifest, but in the meantime, we will see it budding in many places and in many ways.
• The evolution has already begun with many local patterns contributing to the emergent whole.

We also have many questions, including:

• What is the most effective balance of freedom and constraint?
• How long will it take?
• What can and should be done centrally and what should emerge at the edges?
• Who wants to play?
• How are you currently living into the HSD strange attractor pattern?

If you are curious about how this process is unfolding, you can:

• Respond to this post and spark a conversation.

Join us for the HSD Community Commons meeting on June 22. You will engage with one Associate in the emerging pattern, hear about others, and discover ways to engage yourself in this generative process for the future.