Social learning leadership in communities and networks State

Social learning leadership in communities and networks State of the Art Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner Professional BEtreat Grass Valley, California July 7 -10, 2014 Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner

Introduction Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner

Origins in studies of apprenticeship legitimate peripheral participation Learning as trajectory into a community of practice Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner

Phase II: self-organized professional development in international settings English for Specific Purposes: genres in international settings Portuguese participation in international practices Communities of practice as learning contexts International networks of communities of practice Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner

Communities of practice across sectors Transparency and accountability Initiative Ontario leading municipalities provincial service organizations AL P PEM Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner

Communities of practice as a learning partnership 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 Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner

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 When have you experienced this? Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner

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

Community rhythm finding the heartbeat of a learning partnership Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner

A learning partnership lifecycle and evolution It involves responsibilities It becomes an entity in its own right private and public It is voluntary communal identity long-term viability recognized stewardship Maturing Coalescing It is fun Sustaining It takes initiative Transforming Potential common ground It takes hard work and careful nurturing It depends on renewed passion A community is a living entity … not unlike a couple Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner ongoing legacy

Networks structures of social connections A network is. . . … a set of connections among people, who • may or may not have much in common • rely on these connections for their own purposes These connections enable social exchanges carry information flows provide access to learning resources Professional networks … Social networks Personal networks … broad patterns of relationships all the people one has access to Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner

Practitioners need a network 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 When have you experienced this? Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner

Social learning … communities and networks Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner

Social learning horizontal learning partnership anchored in practice Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner

Phase III: Complex communities … … at the crossroads of multiple practices missed learning potential Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner

Landscape of practice Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner Etienne &

Create slide for social learning spaces and leadership Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner

Social learning leadership living at the intersection Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner

Café conversation What is your journey into social learning? What challenges are you bringing? What would you like to achieve? Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner

Create slide What do SLLs do? The framework Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner

Learning-value framework Reframing loops (short or long) Conditions Exciting project Good meeting Useful case clinic Challenging inquiry Cycle 2 Potential value: Document Relationships Promising advice Insight Cycle 3 Applied value: New practice Measure Collaboration Outcome Advice does not apply New approach Improving loops (short or long) Learning capability Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner Cycle 4 Realized value: Failure Aspirational narrative: framing success Prospective Ground narrative: community/network activities Perspective Cycle 1 Immediate value: Perspective Retrospective Conditions

Learning activities a great variety Outside sources Pointers to resources News Information Informal 1 Tips Stories Broadcast inquiry Demos Document sharing Guests 2 From 7 Follow practitioner Visits Field trips Practice fairs Peer assist Formal practice transfer Training and workshops Invited speaker Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner 1. Exchanges 2. Productive inquiries 3. Building shared understanding 4. Shared memory 5. Creating standards 6. Formal access to knowledge 7. Visits Hot topic discussions Polls Debates 3 Exploring ideas Case clinics Project/ after-action reviews Reading group Each other 6 Challenge Case studies Help desk Mutual benchmark External benchmark Joint events Joint response 4 Learning projects 5 Warranting Formal Systematic scan With Collections Problem solving Role play Q&A Documenting practice Models of practice Boundary collaboration

Facilitating group activities formats for engaging community members one-to-many one-to-one Presentations and Q&A q q q Traditional TED talks Ignite presentation Multimedia tools Brown bag lunches whole-group q q q q World café Discussion guides Fishbowl Panel/Round table Debates Talk show Hot buttons Conversation guides many-to-many Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner q q Fair/booths Quick booth scan Gallery walk Social network mapping Matrix of practice Visioning q q q Forum theatre Role play Character archetypes Mutual discovery q Large conversations Mutual learning Enactments Appreciative Inquiry Envisaging the future Time line Design templates q q Networking q q q Apprenticeship Peer mentoring Buddying small-groups Ice breakers/intro Speed dating Geek dating Knowledge market Breaks Working together q q Open Space Leadership groups Discussion groups Working groups few-to-few

Leadership roles and cultivation Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner

A social discipline of learning key processes Reflect and self-design Domain Bring practice in Learning partnership Community Practice Create selfrepresentation Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner Push practice forward

Success factors Engaged sponsorship Social learning process Learning agenda High value for time Identification with domain Horizontal interactions Personal passion Generative activity design Sense of ownership Attention to different voices High expectations Learning trumps power Practice-driven trajectory Distributed Technology Candid inquiry Internal leadership Value creation In the service of learning Driving community development Multiple tools and devices Articulate value proposition Integration, integration Strategic relevance Different entry points Memory and messages Continuity over time Continuity across boundaries Shared memory Awareness of stakeholders Persistence Intentional communication Social learning team Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner Dynamic

A social discipline of learning key self-design processes Reflect on process Interface with organization Domain Bring voices in Manage community memory Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner Learning partnership Community Practice Drive the learning agenda Get the message out

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

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

Launch Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner

1. Conversations q q How to get going … the first four steps Potential members What are your challenges? Who do you talk to? Is there a community? 2. Value proposition q q q 3. Internal leaders q q 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? q q 4. Launch design q q q Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner Value to organization Value to people How could a community help? What would success look like? Why would people participate? Involve and prepare internal leaders Choose a launch approach Plan launch activities Prepare a follow-up Do it

Designing a launch process key steps Discovery and preparation Launch workshop design Action plan and follow-up Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner q Explore existing networks q Define overall approach q Locate potential members and leaders q Context setting and education q Exciting learning activities q Community self-design q Anticipate follow-up q Logistics and invitations q Action plan and next steps

What happened in Cape Day 1: exploring Day 2: working Day 3: planning Town? In mixed and separate groups, we discussed what were the main challenges we needed to address together and we voted on the most pressing ones Prioritized issues Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner We formed several practice groups to start working on the issues we had prioritized and to explore how we can make progress on them together Learning plans We formed new groups to bring the different work plans together into an overall community design, including activities for the coming year Community design

Online practices and tools Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner

Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner

Strategic advice ● Use it for your own good ● Open it up for your team ● Support the early adopters ● Create a culture of experimentation ● Collect analytics ● Recognize technology stewards Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner Warning signs ● One size fits all ● New tools without practices ● IT department leads decisions ● Build it and … ● Underestimate the time ● Expect the tool to do it

Online versions of selected activities coachi ng hand-h and olding e languag z e tim Stories random inquiry interviews expert following discussion discussants (primed) g pin summary web conferencing Reading group wn /do up Guest speaker public note-taking post on read/write web back/front channel chat assisted Q/A chat thumbs up/down polls phone integration record sha taki ng facilitated time delimited g ram reflect one member leading gin synthesize/aggregate g Hot topics PDF regular check-in htin email Twitter/Yammer discussion board blog wiki google doc tlig summary or FAQ You. Tube someone to follow Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner multimedia guaranteed response series publish comment and discuss Follow the leader ing spo ble n an ding da s sy ync nc h h different media note - del Broadcast inquiry select stories red mo tag es n o integrating, tools discussion/comments in document springboard into parallel discussion board shared memory g re in x i m

3. Value creation Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner

Value-creation stories concrete examples Community/date: What meaningful activities did you participate in? What was your experience? 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? How has this been fed back into the community’s learning: - improvement - reframing Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner Member/role:

Organizational environment Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner

Sponsorship and support structuring strategic conversations New structures Advisory council Coordinator council Existing structures Portfolio sponsors Local sponsors Domain sponsors Support team leader Strategic team R&D Individual sponsors HR Support team Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner Community coordinators Community members IT

Value proposition Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner

Making a business case questions from a sponsor Why q Why should I care? q How will your community contribute to the strategy/mission of my organization? What How Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner q What capabilities will your community develop? q What new connections will it enable? What boundaries/silos will it cross? q What will success look like and how will you know? q How will you operate? q What resources will you need? q What do you expect from me? What role do you want me to play?

Support: social learning team Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner

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

Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner

Key success/failure factors ● 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 Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner ● 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

Thank you! Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner Email: be@wenger-trayner. com Website: http: //wenger-trayner. com Workshops: http: //wenger-trayner. com/betreat/ Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner

Convening in complex systems Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner

Vertical and horizontal accountability the need for transversality Vertical accountability… Hierarchy Institutionalized accountability Evidence-based prescription Codification and regulation Standards of qualification Transversal accounts through… People Processes and practices Objects Horizontal accountability… Communities and networks Peer-to-peer learning Personal meaning Engagement and creativity Individual identity/reputation Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner Co. P

Systems conveners: convening across complex landscapes Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner

Aspirational narrative: capturing imagination Pioneering innovation balancing long and short term Getting buy-in brokering across boundaries personal mission upbeat and persistent legitimacy across boundaries Sustaining coherence moving parameters Strategic alignment: enabling significant results Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner passionate and strategic leverage personal networks Managing the intersection vertical and horizontal Meaningful engagement: cross-boundary encounters

Leadership roles and cultivation Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner

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

A social discipline of learning key self-design processes Reflect on process Interface with organization Domain Bring voices in Manage community memory Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner Learning partnership Community Practice Drive the learning agenda Get the message out

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

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

Systems conveners: convening across complex landscapes Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner

Launch Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner

1. Conversations q q How to get going … the first four steps Potential members What are your challenges? Who do you talk to? Is there a community? 2. Value proposition q q q 3. Internal leaders q q 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? q q 4. Launch design q q q Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner Value to organization Value to people How could a community help? What would success look like? Why would people participate? Involve and prepare internal leaders Choose a launch approach Plan launch activities Prepare a follow-up Do it

What happened in Cape Day 1: exploring Day 2: working Day 3: planning Town? In mixed and separate groups, we discussed what were the main challenges we needed to address together and we voted on the most pressing ones Prioritized issues Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner We formed several practice groups to start working on the issues we had prioritized and to explore how we can make progress on them together Learning plans We formed new groups to bring the different work plans together into an overall community design, including activities for the coming year Community design

Learning activities and formats Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner

“It was fantastic to see everyone digging their teeth into these issues we all struggle with individually. . . ” Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner

Toward a discipline of value creation Capturing the value creation of social learning is strategic, but subtle. To be both rigorous and helpful our framework is held to five disciplines: q q Ease of use – commonsense, hence usable by community members as well as professional evaluators q Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner Attribution - creating plausible causal links between outcomes and activities Mixed methods - integrating quantitative and qualitative sources of data q q Relevance - recognizing different kinds of value to members and multiple stakeholders Learning orientation – not be purely evaluative, but a learning tool for members and stakeholders

Crossing boundaries Conditions Strategic value Vision Strategic conversations Alignment Aspirations Immediate value Potential value Aspirations Value-creation cycles Landscape orientation Aspirations Applied value Realized value Reframing loops Relationship Conditions Customer satisfaction Different approach Failure Practice Insight Collaboration Institution Challenging inquiry Personal success Transformative value New practice Identity Good meeting Document Improved performance or outcome Advice does not apply Criteria Exciting project Promising advice Boundary Learning activities Useful case clinic Improving loops Good leadership Social learning team Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner Enabling value Secretariat Conditions Sponsorship Technology Aspirations

Value-creation stories: template What got you involved? What was your experience of engaging with the Co. P this way? Was there a significant connection to strategy? Did it transform your view? What did you get out of it? How did you apply it? What was the Co. P-related activity? Did you feed this back into the Co. P? Were there specific enablers that you think made this story possible? Start here Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner What was the result?

Applications of the framework Strategic value Crossing boundaries Conditions Aspirations Alignment Value-creation cycles Aspirations Aspirational narratives Aspirations Vision Strategic conversations Landscape orientation Aspirations Reframing loops Feedback narratives Applied value Retrospective narratives Exciting project Personal success Retrospective narratives Relationship Collaboration Insight Customer satisfaction Different approach Failure Feedback narratives Improvement loops Conditions Good leadership Social learning team Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner Conditions Enabling value HR recognition Conditions Aspirational narratives Institution Challenging inquiry New practice Practice Good meeting Document Transformative value Improved performance or outcome Advice does not apply Identity Promising advice Realized value Criteria Learning activities Useful case clinic Potential value Boundary Immediate value Conditions Sponsorship Technology Aspirations

Learning how to learn Strategic value Crossing boundaries Conditions Vision Strategic conversations Alignment Aspirations Immediate value Potential value Aspirations Value-creation cycles Landscape orientation Aspirations Applied value Realized value Reframing loops Relationship Conditions Customer satisfaction Different approach Failure Practice Insight Collaboration Institution Challenging inquiry Personal success Transformative value New practice Identity Good meeting Document Improved performance or outcome Advice does not apply Criteria Exciting project Promising advice Boundary Learning activities Useful case clinic Improving loops Good leadership Social learning team Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner Enabling value Secretariat Conditions Sponsorship Technology Aspirations

Support: social learning team Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner

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

Key success/failure factors ● 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 Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner ● 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

Value proposition Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner

Making a business case questions from a sponsor q Why should I care? How will your community contribute to the strategy/mission of my organization? What capabilities will your community develop? q What q q What new connections will it enable? What boundaries/silos will it cross? What will success look like and how will you know? q q How q Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner How will you operate? What resources will you need? What do you expect from me? What role do you want me to play?

Thank you! Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner Email: be@wenger-trayner. com Website: http: //wenger-trayner. com Workshops: http: //wenger-trayner. com/BEtreat/ Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner

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