Coherence is what happens when the parts of a system move in relation to each other with enough integrity to make sense together, while still leaving space for autonomy and adaptation. It’s not uniformity — it’s resonance. Like a jazz ensemble: each player has freedom, but their contributions hang together as a living whole.
In knowledge systems, cultivating coherence means intentionally tending the patterns of relationship — between people, tools, practices, and contexts — so that meaning can travel across boundaries without being flattened or lost. It’s noticing when relationships fray, when timing gets out of sync, when concepts splinter — and weaving them back into sensible alignment.
Where hierarchical authority fragments knowledge into silos and bottlenecks, coherence reconnects. It distributes sense-making capacity so no single node or role “owns” the truth. And it generates resilience: because when the whole is coherent, a disruption in one part doesn’t collapse the system — it rebalances.
