The Power of Emergence: Why Leaders Shouldn’t Prescribe Every Solution

As engineering leaders, it’s tempting to prescribe solutions. It feels efficient: you’ve seen this problem before, you know how to solve it, and it seems faster to give the answer than to wait for the team to figure it out.But complex systems don’t reward prescription. They reward emergence. Some of the best ideas don’t come from the top — they surface unexpectedly when people are given the trust and space to explore. Research supports this finding: teams that report higher psychological safety exhibit stronger innovation and higher-quality outcomes, precisely because people feel empowered to take risks and suggest new ideas.

I learned this lesson years ago, in a way I never could have planned.

Source: The Power of Emergence: Why Leaders Shouldn’t Prescribe Every Solution | by David Lewis | Sep, 2025 | Medium