Community of practice LO22124

Cowan, Keith (keith.cowan@eXcape.net)
Wed, 7 Jul 1999 10:36:42 -0700

Lesson No. 1 for instituting a community of practice (CoP) is: Don't.
CoPs are groups of people bound by informal relationships who share a
common practice, such as project management, basket weaving, drag racing
or metal working. They're the reason managers hang out with managers,
welders hang out with welders and so on. CoPs are the spontaneous
relationships that arise in the normal course of business. We all have
other communities as well, but those associated with our income generation
have a special place, because we -- individuals and corporations -- learn
how to do what we do by talking about it with other people who do the same
thing. This is self-motivated continuous learning that has always been
present in the work place -- it is not a new concept. But it is supremely
effective. One study of engineers showed that higher IQ did not correlate
with higher productivity. Initiative and networks counted most.
Unfortunately, in the bottom-line industrial environment, work-hour
socializing, war-story telling and water-cooler chat -- the very meat of
CoPs -- is typically discouraged. Many places still restrict access to
the Internet and the company intranet, powerful new expansions to one's
community of practice. Such policies unwittingly rob the potential for
natural learning. The bad news for those eager to find a how-to manual on
CoPs is that they are not designable units or a new kind of organizational
module to be implemented; they can't be legislated or defined by decree.
The good news is that they CAN be recognized, supported, encouraged and
nurtured. The nearest thing to a textbook might be "Communities of
Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity," by Etienne Wenger (1998;
Cambridge University Press).

(Automotive Manufacturing & Production June 1999)

http://www.automfg.com/magazine/latest.html
Regards...Keith
K. C. Cowan
eXcape Inc at http://www.eXcape.net or 604.207.3809 

-- 


"Cowan, Keith" <keith.cowan@eXcape.net>


[Host's Note: Etienne Wenger's book mentioned above is out of print
(according to Amazon.com), but a paperback edition is due 12/99. In
association with Amazon.com, this link...


Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity
   by Etienne Wenger
   http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0521663636/learningorg


  ...Rick]


        Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com>
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