Exploring Communities of Practice
By Robyn Logan - Strategy Director ICA
“Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly”
“CoPs develop around things that matter to people… The difference between a CoP and a team is that the shared learning and interest or its members are what keeps it together. It is defined by knowledge rather than task. It exists because participation has value to members”
Etienne Wenger, 1998
Manuel Castells describes the internet as the most extraordinary technological revolution in history. And at it’s heart is not, as early punters first thought, powerful search engines, rather the ability to bring people with like minded interests and values together quickly, cheaply and easily. It’s the “like meets like” function and the “matching” function that proving to be the new drivers of the internet. It’s the networks and the communities who are driving the internet forward.
I have been reflecting on communities of practice quite a bit recently, as we gear up to open our own CoP’s up to the public (see news above). What I am finding in my travels through Google and Technorati is that there are an incredibly diverse range of CoP’s out there, all connecting across countries, cultures and time zones and these networks are organised aroung a range of principles - topic networks, blog networks, boundaried networks etc.
Nancy White does a great job of exploring history , trends and questions around ‘blogging based communities” ie: communities set up around and connected by blogs. Also, unlike many of the “opinion based” audio’s I come across on this topic, Nancy’s is grounded in her ongoing research in this area.
*** Listen to Nancy’s Audio ***
*** Downdload the pdf transcript ***
Thanks to the Knowledge Tree for these resources.
At ICA we set up our Coaching Communities of Practice for two key reasons:
- We believe in the power of practice. Learning by theory is not enough, you need to connect to the practice and the communties are made up of practitioners - people actually practicing and as such creating and sharing resources, case studies, tools and insights.
- We believe that learning is fundamentally a social phenomenon. People learn from their peers, their colleagues and their communities. You can’t set up a learning situation and ignore the social.
I invite you to join us for a ’sneak peek’ at our very own Communities of Practice and to meet our Community Leaders.
Register Now for the Cop Teleseminars
Meet our Coaches:
*Ronnie Noize - Business Community of Practice LeaderSince 1996, Ronnie has worked with hundreds of small business owners (and three large businesses) to help them identify, aquire and retain their best clients.
*Paul Litwack - Executive Community of Practice LeaderPaul Litwack is the Capability Improvement Coach. He specializes in coaching senior executives and professionals to up level their personal, professional and business capabilities. In 2005 he was selected to the ‘Top 100 Corporate Coaches in the world’.
*Meg Montford - Career Community of Practice LeaderWith experience in the careers industry since 1986, Meg had provided career consulting to clients from varied industries and for all career types. Her expertise includes coaching executives, midlife career changers, new managers and entrepeneurs. Meg is the President-Elect of the Association of Career Professionals International-USA Country Board.
*Alan Seale - Spiritual Community of Practice LeaderAlan Seale specializes in self-discovery, transformation and realizing potential. He’s spent his life studying higher levels of communication through fields ranging from music to world religions, intuitive development to evolutionary consciousness and the quantum field.