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When I was new to architecture I was of the firm belief that all that went good in projects was due to it being architected and all that was bad was due to the facts that managers did not evolve an architect. Then quickly due to my critical mind I discovered that most great application and processes that were in place were there before there were architects around. When I looked back in time on other architecture I also often found that the people creating something back in history that was truly great were later called architects, not before.
After a while I also noticed that more than once people complete inept of any skills claimed the architecting of something really great that truly was great and them truly clueless with no else claiming the credit. That left me puzzled until I rediscovered emergency. I my view formed by a formal study everything tends to develop into entropy. However while entropy is a state that happens it is just a state leading back to order in a process called emergence. Some also call it an accident as for them order can only happen with a mind or with a human mind to be precise. However emergent behaviour in nature does not follow this rule, as there are many emergent forms of organisation such as the complex forming of costal patterns or even the structure of different forms of ice crystal show us. So emergence proves at least that a perfect order is able to assert itself without a deliberate mindful act. You may still argue that this leaves a higher form of mind such as God in place, but for my argument I will concentrate on the absence of a human mind as so far I have not discovered a God like among my fellow architects
So do I now mean to say that architects and managers are of no use and that just leaving everything to emergence will solve problem? Of course not, as for emergence it will often take too long a time for emergence to occur. The importance is however to learn of emergence and math often can describe pattern very clearly, also cultural or physiological patterns to an often stunningly correct degree without having any explanation for the emergent pattern. So what I am often applying are those emergent patterns, but often without trying to explain them. This hard as we try to explain everything, but often just following emergent pattern or you may also call it your gut feeling often helps you to achieve much greater success in architecture than a fully rational mind.