>In LO22124, Keith Cowan <keith.cowan@eXcape.net> writes:
>
>> Lesson No. 1 for instituting a community of practice (CoP) is: Don't.
>
>It seems to me that there is some real wisdome in that comment and
>although it slightly misses the point.
>
>*==> The WISDOM is that, as Keith later points out (quoting from his
>article in Automotive Manufacturing & Production June 1999?)
>
>> they are not designable units or a new kind of organizational
>> module to be implemented; they can't be legislated or defined by decree.
I agree that CoPs can't be designed, engineered, legislated, mandated,
decreed or brought about by any other form of fiat or dictatorial move.
However, we long ago stopped settling for only natural pearls and we
learned how to cultivate them. I think we can plant seeds and cultivate
CoPs, too. So, I agree with the second point above but not with the
advice in the first point.
>I've seen attempts to formalize the informal, to provide corporate
>"support", and otherwise mess with CoPs that ultimately cause harm
>because, when corporate support is withdrawn (for reasons of distraction
>or new imperatives, or whatever), the community has a tough time going
>back to a more natural (less hot-house) life style. In the case that I'm
>thinking of, the community of engineers never achieved the kind of
>reflectivity that would be needed to deliberately re-design itself as a
>community.
That's a risk that I'm sure lots of managers and consultants are willing
to take. If we try to foster a dozen or more and only two or three take,
that's two or three that didn't exist before. And I don't see that much
is lost by not having the other nine or 10 not take.
>*==> THE MISSING POINT is that CoPs are there anyway, whether we notice
>them or not. Many a learning intervention succeeds or fails because of the
>rich politics of communities of practice. For an example of success, I
>would argue that the story about the "harmony buck" (to stay with the
>automobile industry theme) in the AutoCo learning history is about a
>community that already exists, that is strengthened by the learning
>initiative, and that carries the learning forward across projects. See
>George Roth and Art Kleiner, The Learning Initiative at the AutoCo Epsilon
>Program, 1991-1994 (Cambridge, MA: MIT Sloan School, Center for
>Organizational Learning, 1996). Each one of us can probably provide an
>example of a "dark" community of practice that rejects new thinking,
>members, or artifacts because they don't fit with the community's
>practice.
>
>My question to Fred Nickols (LO LO22051) would be: do you think that the
>work reported in the AutoCo learning history qualifies as an instance
>where a company has successfully initiated a community of practice? They
>weren't using the term "community of practice," but the harmony buck
>clearly brought a larger community into existence in terms of enterprise,
>engagement, and repertoire.
I'm not a stickler for labels (although I am picky about the use of
language). I've been part of several CoPs, long before that term was
coined to label the phenomenon being observed. For example, on board
combatant vessels (in my day, at least), the technicians who are
responsible for operating, maintaining and repairing the ship's weapons
systems are (or were) known as Fire Control Technicians or FT's. As a
group, they were called "the fire control gang." They satisfy Etienne
Wenger's three main criteria for a community of practice and much of what
they did arose from a need to get around the inadequacies of the formal
organization. Moreover, the formal organization was smart enough to leave
well enough alone.
To answer John's specific question above: I can't say if the AutoCo
example fits or not because I'm not familiar with that particular work.
[Host's Note: The AutoCo Epsilon case is a learning history of a major
learning initiative in one of the big US auto-makers. (It's a real case,
but the name has been changed.) Significant excerpts appear on the web at
http://www.sol-ne.org/pra/pro/aut/index-full.html
..Rick]
--Regards,
Fred Nickols Distance Consulting "Assistance at A Distance" http://home.att.net/~nickols/distance.htm nickols@worldnet.att.net (609) 490-0095
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>