Emergence as a core complexity construct tells us that innovators can’t determine in advance what will happen, so evaluators can’t determine in advance what to measure. We have to be watching for whatever emerges. We have to expect the unexpected. We have to be prepared. In a lecture on scientific discovery given at the University of Lille in 1854, Louis Pasteur asserted: “Dans les champs de l’observation le hasard ne favorise que les esprits prepares” (In the fields of observation chance favors only the prepared mind).

Bron: Patton MQ (2011) Developmental Evaluation – applying complexity concepts to enhance innovation and use. New York: The Guilford Press. [p.126]