# GTM as emergent hyperobjects ## Current Form A modern GTM system can be understood as a **hyperobject** that **emerges** from countless smaller interactions. > [!quote] Key Insight > Emergence is about the birth of complexity. Hyperobjects are what that complexity becomes. They offer a shared vocabulary to understand why large systems feel so hard to pin down, and why you can’t just “optimize your funnel” without considering the ecosystem around it. #### Emergence and Hyperobjects | **Emergence** | **Hyperobjects** | |-------------------------------------|--------------------------------------| | Describes the **process** of new patterns arising | Describes the **entities** that emerge | | Arises from **local interactions** | Exists as **nonlocal totalities** | | Focuses on *how* complexity forms | Focuses on *what* complexity becomes | | Requires **systems thinking** | Requires **ontological humility** | Hyperobjects are often the *result* of emergent processes—and once they emerge, they behave in ways that reshape the systems that birthed them. Just like how smaller interactions, in aggregate, define perception, experience, and performance: - Individual rep behavior - Marketing campaigns and channel strategies - Product usage data - Internal tools and rituals - External market forces You can see parts (like pipeline velocity or brand sentiment), but never the *whole thing*. It becomes: - **Resistant to reductionism** - **Self-shaping and self-sustaining** - **Nonlocal in its effects** (decisions in one part ripple into others) All of this favors a shift toward building [[building layered gtm systems|building layered gtm systems]] that allow operators to zoom in and out dynamically, creating a system that moves: - From **control → orchestration** - From **linear plans → feedback loops** - From **rigid outputs → protocols for emergence** ### Spark This idea originated from a particular reading session of [[Blue Mars (1996)|Blue Mars (1996)]], specifically in *Natural History,* from the POV of Sax Russell as he works through some existential trauma. ![[Blue Mars (1996)#^dbe139]] As he's working (really just aimlessly observing) in Da Vinci he befriends Bao, a brilliant physicist breaking new ground in string theory. In their discussion on what discovery at the fundamental level of physics might mean for physics the domain: ![[Blue Mars (1996)#^9f14ec]] Thinking in that frame, I started to notice some strong thematic connections between [[emergence]] and [[Timothy Morton|Morton]]'s concept of [[hyperobjects]], namely that hyperobjects are very often birthed from emergent processes. The idea that "every level of emergence creates its own problems" is a really compelling frame for a hypothetical assertion that modern GTM systems are emergent hyperobjects. ### Tensions or Unknowns Right now it reads as a really interesting connection, but it doesn't have a lot of practical application. ### Next Evolution There are a few loose ends dangling around this idea right now. Some connections back to [[wicked problems]] as a concept, some more applied synthesis to reify it a bit more. I think it could be a compelling metaphor for complexity, and there's some really interesting opportunity to connect this to the broader idea of [[building layered gtm systems]]. ### ChangeLog - [[2025-04-16-Wednesday]] - fleshed out body of note & refactored frontmatter. Started to make some explicit connections to [[Blue Mars (1996)|Blue Mars (1996)]] and forward think into practical applications.