Kansas Prevention InitiativeTeam LeadersJuly 31-Aug 1, 2007

The Knowledge Tower: An Exercise in Team Learning

Objective: Build a free standing tower made of paper that is at least five feet tall.

Time: Ten minutes to talk it over and ten minutes to construct it.

Who: Groups of four to five

Resources: 8.5 x 11 paper, tape, your collective knowledge and your imagination.

Harvesting Learnings: How did we do that?Harvesting Learnings: How did we do that?

Head: What theories, mental models, knowledge and Head: What theories, mental models, knowledge and processes did your team use to build its tower?processes did your team use to build its tower?

Heart: What emotional intelligence, soft skills and Heart: What emotional intelligence, soft skills and relationships supported your tower building efforts?relationships supported your tower building efforts?

Hands: What technical skills, data, facts and Hands: What technical skills, data, facts and procedures did you use to construct your tower? procedures did you use to construct your tower?

The Role of Social Networks The Role of Social Networks and Communities of Practice and Communities of Practice in Sustaining and Diffusing in Sustaining and Diffusing

the Prevention Focus the Prevention Focus Throughout SRSThroughout SRS

Kansas Prevention InitiativeTeam LeadersJuly 31-Aug 1, 2007

What do we mean by Social Network?What do we mean by Social Network?What do we mean by Social Network?What do we mean by Social Network?

A social network can refer to any group of people who share a connection of some kind. SRS is a network of 6000 people who share a connection to delivering high quality social services to those who need them.

The actual number of people in the SRS network is much larger than 6000, because it includes among others:

all the vendors SRS contracts with

the legislature who makes laws affecting SRS

the Federal government who makes major funding decisions

the clients who are the beneficiaries of the services that SRS provides

The Value of Weak ConnectionsThe Value of Weak ConnectionsThe Value of Weak ConnectionsThe Value of Weak Connections Social networks are not chains. Weak links are where chains break. Social

networks are enriched by weak links. Research has shown that when

people report success in using their social networks for landing a job, the

job offer nearly always comes through someone in the network unknown to

the person seeking employment — i.e., a friend of a friend.

The same holds true for finding knowledge in a social network. You ask

someone if they know how to do “X” and they put the request out to their

network. When the answer comes back it is most often from someone in

the network either unknown to you or someone you know only peripherally.

In social networking terms, this is called a weak connection.

In social networks, weak connections add high value.

Intention + Action + Service: When Social Intention + Action + Service: When Social Networks Birth Communities of PracticeNetworks Birth Communities of PracticeIntention + Action + Service: When Social Intention + Action + Service: When Social Networks Birth Communities of PracticeNetworks Birth Communities of Practice

Being connected in a social network does not mean that anything productive is happening as a result of the connection… Productive connections require intention plus action in the service of a shared outcome.

When people inside a social network share a common interest — such as how

to create a culture of a prevention — they often form Communities of Practice

(CoPs) within their network. CoPs cultivate:

A safe place to learn — okay to make mistakes, be vulnerable, say you

don’t know.

The freedom to experiment, try new things, look at old problems through

new lenses.

Shared commitment to changing the way things are done in service to a

better future. And then diffusing that innovation or new knowledge

throughout the network.

A Community of Practice is …A Community of Practice is …A Community of Practice is …A Community of Practice is …

A network of conversations among people who:

Share a common interest in a specific area of knowledge or competence.

Are willing to work and learn together over a period of time.

Seek to develop ideas, find solutions and build innovations.

Diffuse new knowledge and innovations within the larger network.

What does the growth and development of Social Networks look like when we map them over time?

What does the growth and development of Social Networks look like when we map them over time?

Are there regular patterns that show up?

What do such patterns reveal about how we can work together more effectively?

Might it be useful to look at the last 24 months as an experiment in Social Network Development and the formation of a Community of Practice dedicated to the Creation of a Culture of Prevention within SRS?

Human Organization over the past 10,000 years

Bands Kingdoms Democracies

SmallLocal Businesses

CentralizedCorporations

Loosely CoupledInterest Networks

Stand Alone Mainframes

Client/ServerLANS & WANS

On Demand& Internet

Evolution of Business in 20th Century

Evolution of Connectivity of Computers

Evolution of Learning*

One-on-One Classes & Workshops Informal Learning

Group of 55Chosen to Lead

Prevention Initiative

Teams Gather in Topeka to Explore

Approaches to Creating a Culture of Prevention

Teams form ProductiveNetwork

Connections

Development of Kansas SRS Prevention Initiative

*Source previous slide to this point: Jay Cross: Informal Learning ©2007 Pfeifer

Kansas Prevention Initiative as a CoP

The efforts of the Team Leads + the 55 + the 120 begin to link up around the state

Virtual tools to Support the CoP

EmailGTM

Wiki

iCohere

As a result of its innovations and successes, the Prevention CoP gains more credibility and gradually begins to affect more and more of the SRS network…

Wheatley, Frieze (2006). Using Emergence to Take Social Innovations to Scale

Becoming a System of Influence

Visually and symbolically Sankofa is expressed as a mythic bird that flies forward while looking backward with an egg (symbolizing the future) in its mouth.

Sankofa: Wisdom from AfricaSankofa: Wisdom from Africa

Source: wikipedia

The concept of Sankofa is derived from Adinkra of the Akan people of West Africa.

Literally translated Sankofa means “It is not taboo to go back and fetch what you forgot.”

Sankofa is used today across the pan-African world to promote the idea that African people must go back to our roots in order to move forward.

What were some of the major learning and turning points along your journey within SRS?

Sankofa: For Personal LearningSankofa: For Personal Learning

Quiet your mind… Try to recall…

Why did you decide to come to work for SRS?

What were you wanting to learn?

From whom did you want to learn?

Whom did you want to help or be in service to?

<1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s>

Head:Prevailing Theories

& Mental ModelsUnderstanding

KnowledgeProcesses

Heart:Values Beliefs

Emotional IntelligenceSoft Skills

Relationships

Hands:Technical Skills

SystemsProcedures

Data & Facts

Sankofa: Honoring the Past, Harvesting the Present, Envisioning the Future Sankofa: Honoring the Past, Harvesting the Present, Envisioning the Future

*What did you, do you*What did you, do youand will you need to and will you need to be effective in SRS?be effective in SRS?

Be

liefs

Be

liefs

ImaginationImagination

Inte

nti

on

sIn

ten

tio

ns

MeaningMeaning

CompetenceCompetence

Ac

tio

ns

Ac

tio

ns

*Outcomes: Delivering high quality social services to those who need them*Outcomes: Delivering high quality social services to those who need them

As you look over the results of our sankofa:

What struck you?

What trends and patterns are revealed?

What meaning do you make of this?

What are the simplest most elegant next steps we can take to move forward?

Learning from SankofaLearning from Sankofa

One Platform… One Platform…

…Many Purposes…Many Purposes

Communities of Practice Communities of Practice

Online EventsOnline Events

Workgroup WorkspacesWorkgroup Workspaces

eLearningeLearning

Announcements Announcements

Host Conversations That MatterHost Conversations That Matter

iCohere’s Presentation TheaterPresent Real-time Events Present Real-time Events

Web FormsCollect “Best Practices” DataCollect “Best Practices” Data

Integrated the Kansas Prevention WikiIntegrated the Kansas Prevention Wiki

18 Core Components18 Core Components• Welcome Page

• Announcements

• Discussions

• Document Library

• Web Forms

• Real-time Meetings

• Projects

• Messages

• Shared Calendar

• Member Directory

• Help Desk

• Site Search

• Custom Menu Items

• And more…

For Designing Your Site

"Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach."

---Clarissa Pinkola-Estes

References & Sources

1. iCohere www.icohere.com

2. The Lifecycle of Emergence (Wheatley & Frieze, 2006)

http://www.berkana.org/articles/lifecycle.htm

3. CP Square http://www.cpsquare.org/ 4. Etienne Wenger

http://www.ewenger.com/theory/

This content was prepared for the Kansas Prevention Initiative, Team Leaders Session, July 31-Aug 1, 2007, Topeka, KS and is licensed under Creative Commons. You may share and make improvements to the work as long as you agree to share your work in return and attribute this work to the Kansas Prevention Initiative, Omega Point International, Ken Homer and LaDonna Coy, Social Media and Prevention Specialist.

For more information on Creative Commons as a simple method for copyright that advises others how you wish your work to be used, visit www.creativecommons.org.

Kansas Prevention CoP

A learning system is a sustainable system.

CoPs serve to:• Bridge content and

context• Capture & preserve

knowledge• Share (discover) and

leverage best practices • Seed/Guide innovation• Enable professional

development• Reduce costs• Deliver real results [1]

[1] iCohere’s Community of Practice

Online Events

F2F Events

+ +

Revisiting the Four Step Path as a Community of Practice Revisiting the Four Step Path as a Community of Practice • Be who we are:

–What is our unique contribution to the future of the Prevention Initiative? (role)

–What do we expect of ourselves now that we did not even consider 24 months ago? (growth)

–What competencies have we developed over the last 24 months in the area of prevention? (grounding)

–How do we think others in SRS see us? (outside perspective)

Revisiting the Four Step Path as a Community of Practice Revisiting the Four Step Path as a Community of Practice • Be where we are:

–What have been our key learnings and critical success factors over these last 24 months? (strengths)

–What are we uncertain of now? (concerns)–What keeps us grounded and focused?

(competencies)–What excites us about the future?

(vision)

Revisiting the Four Step Path as a Community of Practice Revisiting the Four Step Path as a Community of Practice • Look around:

–What questions are we learning into now? (edges)

–Where do we feel the most support — where is the path most clearly discernable? (way forward)

–What do we need to remember and carry with us into the future? (memory)

–What is worth celebrating as we mark this turn on the wheel? (fulfillment)

Revisiting the Four Step Path as a Community of Practice Revisiting the Four Step Path as a Community of Practice • Decide and do:

– What shared identity invites and supports the diffusion of prevention? (identity and invitation)

– What technologies do we need to incorporate to create our desired future? (virtual support)

– What relationships are key to our success? (cultivating relationships)

– How do we share our knowledge and competencies with those who need them? (teaching/learning)

– What are the simplest most elegant steps we can take to support the successful diffusion of Prevention through SRS? (elegance & simplicity)