1. Leadership in social learning communities and networks
Exploring the art
Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner
Leadership plaza workshop
Iceland, October 2-3, 2012

2. Introduction

3. Communities of practice
a central type of social learning space
A community of practice is ...
… a self-governed learning partnership among people, who
share challenges, passion or interest
interact regularly
learn from and with each other
improve their ability to do what they care about
define in practice what competence means in their context
In gangs…
they learn to survive on the streets
In organizations…
they provide better service to clients

4. Different from training
horizontal learning partnership anchored in practice
Provider
Negotiation of
mutual relevance
Recipient

5. Matching needs and structures ...
need structure
product or service
task
single problem
personal connections
expert service
strategic capability
department
team
task force or committee
social network
center of excellence
community of practice

6. Social learning initiatives
across sectors
Ontario
leading municipalities
provincial service organizations
PEM   PAL

7. Types of domains Professional communities Technical communities
Professions or disciplines usually recognized outside
Fairly stable over one’s career
Charter: advancing discipline, professional development
Technical communities
Specific technologies or processes
Across business processes
Charter: evaluating and managing technology
Issue-driven communities
Ongoing business concerns or issues
Charter: bringing all perspectives to bear on issue
Additional notes: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

8. Practitioners need a community to …
… help each other solve problems
… hear each other’s stories and avoid local blindness
… reflect on their practice and improve it
… build shared understanding
… keep up with change
… cooperate on innovation
… find synergy across structures
… find a voice and gain strategic influence
Additional notes: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
When have you experienced this?

9. Learning process

10. Social learning … communities and networks

11. A social discipline of learning communities of practice as learning partnerships
This slide introduces a simple, basic model for communities of practice as the cornerstone of a social discipline of learning. It contains seven basic elements.
The three central elements are definitional of communities of practice as social learning context: each one is an aspect of the social discipline: what we are about, how we form a community and who should be part of it, and what is the practice that we need to get better at. Insist that these three elements are mutually defining and work as a set.
The four arrows refer to four distinct perspectives of constituencies for whom this social discipline is important.   
The first horizontal pair of perspective arrows are within the circle of the community. The reason for participation, the “what’s in it for me,” the learning imperative of members is the foundation of the social energy of a community of practice. But having members who are ready to go the extra mile to nurture the community is a key success factor.
Sponsorship and support need not be, and usually are not, performed by members.
Note that these seven elements also indicate what to pay attention to when attempting to cultivate communities of practice. They are developmental elements. In summary, they address the following questions typical of a social discipline of learning:
What is the partnership about?
Who should be at the table?
What should they do together?
How are they going to benefit?
Who will take leadership?
Who are the external stakeholders?
Where are resources for support?
Learning partnership

12. A social discipline of learning key dimensions
Domain
This slide introduces a simple, basic model for communities of practice as the cornerstone of a social discipline of learning. It contains seven basic elements.
The three central elements are definitional of communities of practice as social learning context: each one is an aspect of the social discipline: what we are about, how we form a community and who should be part of it, and what is the practice that we need to get better at. Insist that these three elements are mutually defining and work as a set.
The four arrows refer to four distinct perspectives of constituencies for whom this social discipline is important.   
The first horizontal pair of perspective arrows are within the circle of the community. The reason for participation, the “what’s in it for me,” the learning imperative of members is the foundation of the social energy of a community of practice. But having members who are ready to go the extra mile to nurture the community is a key success factor.
Sponsorship and support need not be, and usually are not, performed by members.
Note that these seven elements also indicate what to pay attention to when attempting to cultivate communities of practice. They are developmental elements. In summary, they address the following questions typical of a social discipline of learning:
What is the partnership about?
Who should be at the table?
What should they do together?
How are they going to benefit?
Who will take leadership?
Who are the external stakeholders?
Where are resources for support?
Learning partnership
Community
Practice

13. A social discipline of learning key processes
Reflect and self-design
Domain
Bring practice in
Push practice forward
This slide refers to four processes that a key to the learning of a community of practice.
Bring the practice in: make sure that there are ways for practice to enter the learning space and that the diverse voices of practice are heard
Push the practice forward: drive an inquiry that pushes practitioners to inspect and develop their practice, questioning assumptions and exploring new ideas
Create a self-representation: help a community find how it can represent its learning in useful artifacts
Reflect and self-design: make sure that there is time for the community to design its learning process and reflect critically on how it is working as a learning system for the members
Learning partnership
Community
Practice
Create self- representation

14. Leadership tasks

15. A social discipline of learning key self-design processes
Interface with
organization
Reflect on
process
Domain
This slide refers to four processes that a key to the learning of a community of practice.
Bring the practice in: make sure that there are ways for practice to enter the learning space and that the diverse voices of practice are heard
Push the practice forward: drive an inquiry that pushes practitioners to inspect and develop their practice, questioning assumptions and exploring new ideas
Create a self-representation: help a community find how it can represent its learning in useful artifacts
Reflect and self-design: make sure that there is time for the community to design its learning process and reflect critically on how it is working as a learning system for the members
Drive the learning agenda
Learning partnership
Bring
voices in
Community
Practice
Manage community memory
Get the message out

16. A social discipline of learning internal leadership
Critical friends
Institutional brokers
Reflect on process
Interface with organization
Community keepers
Domain
Learning partnership
Agenda activists
Bring voices in
Community
Practice
Drive the learning agenda
Social reporters
External messengers
Manage community memory
Get the message out

17. Value creation

18. Framing narratives aspirations and experience
Ground narrative: community/network activities
Aspirational narrative: framing success

19. Assessing value-creation
cycles and indicators
In order to appreciate the richness of the value created by communities and networks, it is useful to think about it in terms of different cycles as briefly defined below.
Cycle 1. Immediate value: Activities and interactions
The most basic cycle of value creation considers networking and community activities and interactions in and of themselves. Activities and interactions can produce value in and of themselves. They can be fun and inspiring. One can get an answer to a question, a solution to a problem, or help with a challenge. Collective reflection can trigger out of the box thinking and open new perspectives. Participants can cooperate on seeking innovative approaches. Just hearing someone else’s story can open one’s imagination or reveal a new perspective. And being with others who understand one’s challenge can be a relief.
Ground narrative: community/network activities
Cycle 1
Immediate value:
Cycle 2
Potential value:
Cycle 3
Applied value:
Cycle 4
Realized value:
Cycle 5
Reframing value:
Aspirational narrative: framing success
Skills acquired
Implementation of advice
Level of participation
Change in strategy
Innovation
In practice
Inspiration
Personal performance
Quality of
interaction
New metrics
Reuse of products
Social connections
Organizational
performance
Level of engagement
Use of social connections
New expectations
Tools and documents
Having fun
Organizational
reputation
New learning approaches
New views of learning
Level of reflection
Institutional changes

20. Value-creation cycles
Value-creation stories
In order to appreciate the richness of the value created by communities and networks, it is useful to think about it in terms of different cycles as briefly defined below.
Cycle 1. Immediate value: Activities and interactions
The most basic cycle of value creation considers networking and community activities and interactions in and of themselves. Activities and interactions can produce value in and of themselves. They can be fun and inspiring. One can get an answer to a question, a solution to a problem, or help with a challenge. Collective reflection can trigger out of the box thinking and open new perspectives. Participants can cooperate on seeking innovative approaches. Just hearing someone else’s story can open one’s imagination or reveal a new perspective. And being with others who understand one’s challenge can be a relief.
Ground narrative: community/network activities
Cycle 1
Immediate value:
Cycle 2
Potential value:
Cycle 3
Applied value:
Cycle 4
Realized value:
Cycle 5
Reframing value:
Aspirational narrative: framing success

21. Value-creation cycles
Value-creation matrix
In order to appreciate the richness of the value created by communities and networks, it is useful to think about it in terms of different cycles as briefly defined below.
Cycle 1. Immediate value: Activities and interactions
The most basic cycle of value creation considers networking and community activities and interactions in and of themselves. Activities and interactions can produce value in and of themselves. They can be fun and inspiring. One can get an answer to a question, a solution to a problem, or help with a challenge. Collective reflection can trigger out of the box thinking and open new perspectives. Participants can cooperate on seeking innovative approaches. Just hearing someone else’s story can open one’s imagination or reveal a new perspective. And being with others who understand one’s challenge can be a relief.
Ground narrative: community/network activities
Cycle 1
Immediate value:
Cycle 2
Potential value:
Cycle 3
Applied value:
Cycle 4
Realized value:
Cycle 5
Reframing value:
Aspirational narrative: framing success
New
practice
Good meeting
Document
Measure
Exciting project
Use of connection
Relation-ships
Outcome
Retweeted tweet
Applied advice
Insight
Challenging inquiry
Feedback
Critical
reflection
Case study
Use of connection

22. Value-creation stories
concrete examples
Community/date:
Member/role:
What meaningful activities did you participate in?
What specific skills or insights did you gain? What access to useful information or material?
How did this influence your practice? What difference did it make to your performance? What did it enable that would not have happened otherwise?
How did this contribute to your success?
Personal, professional?
Organizational? Key metrics?
Did your experience change your sense of what success is?

23. Learning activities and formats

24. How to get moving … four-step cycling
Other potential participants
What are your challenges?
Who do you talk to?
Is there a community process?
1. Conversations
Value to organization
Value to people
How could a community help?
What would success look like?
Why would people participate?
2. Value proposition
What do you think of the idea?
Are you willing to help make it happen?
What would that mean to you?
Who else could help?
3. Internal leaders
4. Dynamic design
Involve and prepare internal leaders
Choose an approach
Plan activities
Prepare a follow-up
Do it

25. Learning activities a great variety Outside sources Informal From
Exchanges
Productive inquiries
Building shared understanding
Shared memory
Creating standards
Formal access to knowledge
Visits
Outside sources
Pointers to resources
News
Informal
Information
Community members learn together, develop their practice, and share and build knowledge through a wide variety of “learning activities.” This slide is a list of the learning activities that communities of practice typically engage in to learn together.
Dimensions
In the slide this sample of learning activities is organized along three dimensions:
1. Horizontally: Learning from and learning with
When members interact, they learn both “from” and “with” each other. They learn from each other’s experience of practice through stories, lessons learned, and advice; and they learn with each other when they act as learning partners in debating issues or exploring new solutions together. Most activities involve both processes. Even a simple request for information can lead to a debate about the relevance of the information provided. Still, it is often the case that one aspect is more salient in defining the basic structure of the activity.
On the diagram, this dimension is represented by the horizontal axis: activities that are primarily “learning from” are toward the left and activities that are primarily “learning with” are towards the right.
2. Vertically: Informal and formal activities
It is important not to confuse the self-governing nature of communities of practice with an absence of internal structure. Learning activities range from very informal to very formal activities. Some activities require almost no facilitation or organization, such as requests for just-in-time information or spontaneous conversations. Some activities are quite formal, requiring facilitation, organization, and even protocols, such as training sessions, practice-development projects, or the setting of standards.
On the diagram, this dimension is represented by the vertical access with more informal activities towards the top and more formal activities toward the bottom.
3. Inside and outside
That the main thrust of communities of practice is peer-to-peer learning does not entail members have all the knowledge and information they need internally. Finding sources of information and knowledge outside is just as much of a community activity as learning from and with each other. Inviting guests and experts or reading research papers together are ways that communities incorporate broader knowledge into their practice and keep abreast of developments in relevant fields. Such boundary-oriented activities help the community avoid the trap of becoming insular and caught in its own limitations.
On the diagram this dimension is illustrated by the two rectangles labeled as “each other” and “outside sources.” Activities located in the inner rectangle mostly involve members. Activities located on the outer band centrally involve sources of learning outside of the community.
Note
Because activities in the upper left require less commitment, communities often start there, and move progressively to activities in the lower right as they mature.
Activity clusters
In addition to locating activities along these three dimensions, the slide also groups them into clusters of related activities that have similar learning effects. These clusters represent variations on a theme and are represented by the bubbles on the diagram:
Sharing: information, stories, tips, documents
Productive inquiries: asking for help, working on a case, exploring an idea
Negotiating shared understanding: discussing a topic, reading a paper
Producing assets: documentation, bibliographies, tools,
Creating standards: benchmarks, maturity scales, warranting knowledge
Formal access to knowledge: training, practice transfer, invited expert
Visits: visiting a member’s site, a community website
While this sample of learning activities cannot be exhaustive, it is large and varied. Obviously, not all communities engage in all these activities. In most cases, this would not be a good goal to strive for; many communities function very well with a small subset of these activities. But having a broad panorama of various kinds of activities is a useful tool. It can open the imagination of members and facilitators as to what their community could do to foster learning together. This is mainly a menu that community leaders can choose from to help organize their communities. 1
Tips
Hot topic discussions
Stories
Broadcast inquiry
Polls
Exploring ideas
Demos
Debates 3
Document sharing
Case clinics 2
Reading group
Joint events
Documenting practice
Project/ after-action reviews
From
Each other
With
Guests 7
Peer assist
Collections
Joint response
Follow practitioner 4
Problem solving
Visits
Field trips
Formal practice transfer
Role play
Learning projects
Boundary collaboration
Q&A 6
Practice fairs
Challenge
Mutual benchmark 5
Case studies
Models of practice
Training and workshops
Help desk
Formal
Warranting
Invited
speaker
Systematic scan
External benchmark

26. Online versions of selected activities
language
coaching and hand-holding
time zones
modeling
select stories
video interviews
different media
publish
comment and discuss
series
Stories
random inquiry
multimedia
guaranteed response
broker replies
summary or FAQ
Broadcast inquiry
design engagement
blending synch and asynch
spotlighting
YouTube
someone to follow
regular check-in
synthesize/aggregate
reflect
Follow the leader
one member leading
time delimited
facilitated
discussants (primed)
summary
Hot topics
PDF
trigger artifact
Twitter/Yammer
discussion board
blog
wiki
google doc
ramping up/down
mobile
web conferencing
back/front channel chat
assisted Q/A chat
polls
thumbs up/down
record
phone integration
public note-taking
Guest speaker
analytics
post reading on read/write web
discussion/comments in document
springboard into parallel
discussion board
Reading group
tagging
host
back channel
remixing
shared memory
shared note-taking
integrating

27. Levels of participation
a common picture
clients
transactional
outsiders
lurkers
peripheral
occasional
experts
active
beginners
core group
leaders
coordinator
sponsors
support
Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner

28. Roles and cultivation activities

29. An ecology of leadership community nurturing roles
Community roles
Coordinator
Working group leader
Cybrarian
Technology steward
Host
Member roles
Convening elder
Core group member
Domain expert
Networker/weaver
Broker
Outpost/scout
Questioner
Newcomer
Observer/guest
Representative
This slide describes typical leadership roles found in communities of practice. These roles a important. No matter how much external support they receive, all communities of practice ultimately depend on internal initiative for their development. This leadership, however, is not of the leader-and-follower type. It is diverse and distributed. Rather than think in terms of leaders and followers, it is more useful to think of roles in a community of practice in terms of an ecology of leadership. In this ecology, everyone can potentially take a leadership role.
Types of roles
There are many leadership roles in a community of practice, some formal, some informal, some that can be assigned, some that emerge over the course of the community’s life. They fall under three main categories (community and support roles are in the same column on the slide):
Community roles
Some roles correspond to clear functions in the cultivation and support of the community. They are usually assigned explicitly to a member or a group, who is then expected to fulfill the attendant responsibilities. These functional roles include:
Coordinator: running the day-to-day functions of keeping the community going
Practice group leader: taking charge of a subgroup for a specific purpose
Cybrarian: taking care of the online resources of the community
Technology steward: responsibility for making best use of existing and new technology for the specific needs of the community.
Member roles
Some roles are integral part of membership. They usually are not assigned to people, but emerge from interactions in the community and/or from characteristics of members. These emergent roles include
Convener: senior practitioner(s) who can hold the inquiry space of the community and invite members with legitimacy
Core group member: member dedicated to the development of the community
Expert: contributing exceptional mastery of an aspect of the practice
Mentor: taking newer members under their wing
Broker: using membership in multiple communities to bring knowledge and perspective across practices in ways that make sense
Weaver/networker: connecting people and helping build relationships
Scout or outpost: looking for the new things, going to conferences, exploring possible futures for the community
Community support roles
Some roles are assigned but need not be fulfilled by members. These support roles include:
Facilitator: a professional who supports community processes, and meetings
Administrative support: logistical support to those who take leadership
Journalist: someone who helps produce documents such as stories or codification of practice
Help desk: point persons for requests for help or information
Role assignment processes
The bottom arrow on the slide lists a variety of processes by which people take on roles in their community. To the left are processes where the assignment is explicit and to the right are processes by which the role emerges.
Tacit: some roles do not involve any decision or assignment. People take them on in the course of their participation in the community, whether recognized or unrecognized.
Self-selection: in many communities, people volunteer for roles, either because the role interests them or out of “good citizenship.”
Nomination: people are often asked to take on a role by other members who think they would be good at it.
Rotation: in some communities, people take turn assuming roles that involve work or authority, such as the coordinator role.
Election: some communities organize elections for key functional roles, with candidates “running for office.”
Interview: leaders in various roles are discovered in the process of interviewing members (see interview guide).
Mandate: in some organizations, key roles such as coordinators are assigned to people as an organizational mandate. While this process usually ensures that the person will have enough time assigned to the role, it is important to consider the legitimacy and acceptability of the person for such a role in the eyes of the community.
Organizational position: in some organizations, people take on a role such as community coordinator or expert because of their position in the organization. This is not uncommon, but it presents the risk of conflating organizational roles and community roles.
Note
Note that the roles described in this section do not characterize individuals. Rather they are aspects of leadership, which can be combined in the same person, concentrated in a small subgroup or more widely distributed through the community. In fact, a more distributed responsibility for community cultivation is a sign of maturity in a community. In all cases, those who undertake them must have intrinsic legitimacy in the community. (Some organizational leadership roles are described under “Organizational context” below.)
Support roles
Facilitator
Logistics
Journalist
Technology support
Interpreters
Invitation
Election
Volunteer
Appointment
Consensus
Tacit
Assigned
Emergent
Nomination
Rotation

30. Cultivating activities fostering high value for time
Ensure quality
Model inquiry culture
Coach participation
Garden website
Enabling participation
Convene meetings
Initiate activities
Facilitate interactions
Enabling reification
Blogging, tweeting etc.
Creating summaries
Capturing insights
Distribute leadership
Cultivate core group
Form leadership groups
Coach leaders
Learning agenda
Challenges of practice
Emerging issues
Hot topics
Community
cultivation
Self-care
Pursue own learning
Meet other leaders
Visit other communities
Backchannel work
Keep in touch
Invite members to act
Send notes and newsletters
Assessment
Health checks
Monitor indicators
Value-creation stories
Community building
Manage boundaries
Welcome newcomers
Build identity and trust
Institutional brokering
Talking with sponsors
Making business case
Budgeting

31. Social learning team how to lead and support an initiative
Be the voice of communities across agencies
Legitimize their work in terms of strategic priorities
Help develop a sponsorship structure and negotiate accountability around communities
Strategy
Offer training about communities of practice
Provide coaching to community leaders
Help with community launch and renewal
Cultivation
Steward the use of technology for communities
Promote cross-structure knowledge exchange
Coordinate overall research, assessment, measurement, and reporting
Support

32. Key success/failure factors
This slide lists factors associated with community cultivation:
critical factors for a successful community of practice are listed on the left under the green light
risks associated with a mistaken focus are listed on the right under the red light.
Success factors
Passion for domain: This is the key factor. Unless members feel a strong connection to the domain, because of their personal interest or because it is central to their job, it is not going to work.
Internal leadership: The dedication, skills, and legitimacy of people who take internal leadership in nurturing the community is perhaps the most important factor in determining the quality and longevity of the community. When starting a new community, finding members who are ready and willing to take on a leadership role in nurturing the community is the most important step.
Passion for domain
Relevance to practice
Ownership of agenda
Internal leadership
Energized core group
Learning trumps power
Community rhythm
Trust
High value for time
High expectations
Engaged sponsorship
Skilled support
Distributed leadership
Lack of time
Leader neglect
Groupthink
Build it and …
Stuck in complaining
De-energizing tasks
Red tape
HQ - field
Command/control
Cookie-cutter approach
Fad or mandate
Ideology
Lack of strategic thinking

33. Thank you! Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner
Website:
Workshops: