System-level properties arise from interaction and are not present in, or predictable from, the parts.
Wetness is not a property of hydrogen or oxygen. The institutional version matters more: culture, morale and reputation exist at the level of the organisation and cannot be assigned to any member.
In practice
- A team of six competent engineers has a communication culture that none of them individually possesses and neither the best nor the worst determines.
- A restaurant's atmosphere is not attributable to any dish, table or member of staff, and closing the room ends it.
- Further reading
- Wikipedia
- Subject
- Design & Systems
- Essay
- Why systems behave against intuition