Hello friends,

Each Thursday, I break down a practical framework in four minutes that will help you lead through uncertainty. If you are new here, welcome. And if someone forwarded this to you, why not subscribe?

In early 2020, as the world went into lockdown, so did entire newsrooms. Public health misinformation was spreading as fast as the virus itself, and the communities hit hardest were the least likely to have access to reliable news. At the European Journalism Centre (I was Director at the time) we saw that the need was beyond urgent, and we knew traditional funding mechanisms would be too slow to respond.

There was no time for a five-year strategy or a drawn-out application process. Instead, we raised $3 million, launched the European Journalism COVID-19 Support Fund, and designed a lightweight system that allowed us to accept and assess over 2,000 applications and distribute the first grants in less than six weeks. We prioritised trust over bureaucracy, speed over perfection, and adaptability over rigid structures. It was messy, imperfect, and at times chaotic—but it worked.

The only way we were able to do this was by deploying an emergent strategy mindset.

In this newsletter, I’ll talk about how to use emergent strategy tactically to replace rigid, long-term planning with adaptive, relationship-driven work that allows you to respond effectively to uncertainty and change.

Let’s break it down.

🐜 EMERGENT STRATEGY 🐜

Emergent Strategy is the antidote to rigid, top-down planning in unpredictable times. It’s about adapting in real time, prioritising relationships over control, and making small, smart moves that scale. Instead of clinging to an ancient strategy that your board signed off five years ago (and that won’t survive first contact with the realities of Q2 2025), you build resilience through decentralised action.

When to use it.

• Your strategic plan is already outdated. If your five-year roadmap is crumbling, it’s time to embrace a more flexible approach.

• You’re burning out from trying to “control” everything. Emergent strategy means less micromanagement, more responsiveness, and fewer meetings about meetings.

• Your community is moving faster than your leadership. If your members, funders, or frontline teams are adapting in real time, but HQ is stuck in old models, you need a strategy that moves at their speed.

• You want to innovate, but risk-averse leadership is in the way. Emergent strategy isn’t reckless—it’s about testing small, fast, and learning quickly

Why it works.

Traditional strategic planning assumes (and in many cases conceptually reinforces) stability. But, in case you missed it, these are not stable times. Emergent strategy flips the script:

• It’s decentralised. It prioritises connection over control.

• It prioritises trust. Relationships, not rigid plans, are the foundation of long-term impact.

• It adapts in real time. Think of it as Charlie Parker, not Johann Sebastian Bach. You improvise within a structure, not despite one.

• It’s already how the best movements work. Black Lives Matter, mutual aid networks, and climate justice groups don’t wait for permission or perfect plans—they move, learn, and refine.

How to use it.

Build at the speed of trust.

If your community doesn’t trust you, no amount of strategic planning will save you. Get out of the building, talk to people, and ask what they need. When we launched our COVID-19 fund, our community interviews identified two clear priorities: “lights-on” emergency funding to keep newsrooms afloat and innovation kickstarter funding to help them adapt to new challenges.

Decentralise decision-making.

Empower the teams closest to the work to make decisions instead of waiting for approval from the top. The people on the ground often have a better grasp of what’s needed than those at HQ.

Start with small, flexible actions.

Instead of launching a new programme with a three-year budget, test a prototype on a small scale and iterate. If you’re not sure where to start, last week’s Failure Budget newsletter lays out a practical way to structure small bets and learn quickly.

Embrace “good enough” planning.

Avoid getting stuck in analysis paralysis. Make a plan that works for now, knowing you’ll adjust as needed. When we launched the first wave of funding, we deliberately held back 50% of the money to distribute in a second tranche—allowing us to adapt based on who applied and what challenges they faced.

Track learning, not just outcomes.

The point of emergent strategy isn’t to avoid failure—it’s to move past it as quickly as possible and turn it into something better. Perfect is the enemy of progress. Persuade your board and/or funders to accept learning as the real measure of success.

🔮 FUTUREPROOFING 🔮

Emergent strategy is powerful, but it’s not for everyone. If your funders expect rigid impact metrics or your board wants certainty above all else, you’ll need to bring them along carefully.

• If leadership is hesitant: Frame emergent strategy as risk management, not risk-taking—it’s about staying ahead of change, not reacting to it.

• If funders demand predictability: Show them how adaptive strategies lead to greater long-term impact (and fewer costly failures).

• If your team is sceptical: Start small. Pilot an emergent approach in one area and track results before scaling.

Emergent strategy isn’t about abandoning structure—it’s about creating structures that evolve with the world around them. In a time when so much feels uncertain, that’s not just strategic. It’s survival.

And, if this has been of interest, I highly, highly recommend going to the source: Emergent Strategy by adrienne maree brown.

🪁 PARALLEL PLAY 🪁

Hogging my attention this week:

• Analyzing animal onomatopoeia across languages can demystify how we shape sound into meaning. Dataviz brilliance from The Pudding.

• There’s been some web hype around Seoul start-up KitBetter, who make collectable digital/physical music releases. But is this just Toniebox for grown-ups (cool, but ultimately another closed ecosystem)?

• “As for the trailer’s form and content, audiences would never have seen anything like it before.” Alfred Hitchcock’s groundbreaking, six-minute trailer for Psycho (released in 1960 - that’s, like, pre-YouTube!)

🌊 WAVE GOODBYE 🌊

Your challenge this week: try an emergent strategy experiment.

For the next month, ditch one rigid plan in favour of an emergent approach (choose fundraising, comms, programmes - anything!)

What will you test? How will you track what emerges?

Hit reply and tell me—I’ll check in with you personally in a month to see how it's going and to try to help you move things forward.

And if this newsletter sparked an idea, please forward it to someone who needs permission to let go of control (just a little). If you're not subscribed, sign up here.

Take care,

Adam

P.S. My recent videos on multi-passionate people have been getting some amazing feedback in the form of DMs and comments. I often talk about the need for values-based metrics; some of the feedback this week has truly made the small-channel struggle worth it. Check out my latest video: 25 years of multipotentialite career lessons in 13 minutes.