tapping into the agility of knowledge networks and communities
DESCRIPTION
Nonprofits are increasingly turning outside to discover and spread insight about their programs, target markets, science, and processes. A powerful organizational model to do this is the knowledge network (also called community of practice). The knowledge network rides less on formal partnerships, markets or hierarchies and more on powerful social ties to drive collaborative innovation and learning. Not all knowledge networks are created alike, but there are some success factors that are universal, such as agile leadership, real-time meetings, effective use of technology, and clear mission and measurement. Please join Kate Pugh, author of Sharing Hidden Know-How (Jossey-Bass/Wiley, 2011) in a lively discussion about knowledge networks. We’ll look at ten years of research and practice on knowledge networks, as well as some highlights from a 2011 grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.TRANSCRIPT
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Beyond “Partnerships”:
Tapping into the Agility of Knowledge Networks and Communities
Kate Pugh
November 30, 2011
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Advising nonprofits in:
• Strategy
• Planning
• Organizational Development
www.synthesispartnership.com
(617) 969-1881
INTEGRATED PLANNING
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Affordable collaborative data
management in the cloud.
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Today’s Speaker
Kate Pugh President, Faculty
AlignConsulting, Columbia University
Hosting:
Sam Frank, Synthesis PartnershipAssisting with chat questions:
April Hunt, Nonprofit Webinars
Beyond Partnerships: Tapping into the Agility of Knowledge Networks and CommunitiesNonprofit WebinarNovember 30, 2011
Kate Pugh AlignConsultingAuthor of Sharing Hidden [email protected]: @katrinapugh
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Contents• How are networks different from market-based partnerships,
hierarchies, and think-tanks?
• What are knowledge networks? (also called “Communities
of Practice”)
• What are examples of knowledge networks?
• What mechanisms make knowledge networks succeed?
• Where should you start to launch (or enhance) your
knowledge network?
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What’s different about a network?
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What is it
Strengths
Weak-
nesses
Hierarchy
Top-down decision-
making and
coordinated actions,
vertical knowledge-flow
Clarity and consistency
of purpose, easy to
measure
clarity
One-way flows of
knowledge (Blindspots)
Perverse resource
usage incentives
(Selfish behaviors)
Sluggish to
change
Think Tank
Knowledge “factory,”
grants underwriting
collaborative
research
Intellectual freedom,
clout
purity
Narrowly defined
view of “knowledge”
and poor translation;
Granting
organizations may
protect, or have
separate agenda
Unidirectional
Networks
Democratic, diverse
group; leveraging
social relationships
and supporting multi-
directional K flows
Loose ties help
reach; diversity, and
flexibility inform rapid
adaptation
agility & reach
Coordination can be
difficult, requires
investment in quality
of rapport, quality of
knowledge-products,
difficult to measure
Requires Subtle,
skillful leadership
Market/Partnership
“Invisible hand”
driven by market-
clearing price and
trusted rules of
engagement
Market-clearing use
of resources, easy
to measure
efficiency
Externalities
Asymmetries
(Dominance by
resource-rich)
Myopic and
Tragedy of the
commons
Undervalues
commonly-held
resources
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How does a network behave?
• De-centralizes power
• Uses extensive ties of
its members
• Learns from its own
activities
• Leverages cognitive
diversity
8
• Coordination
• Translation
• Adaptation
BenefitsNetwork activities
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What’s a knowledge network?
9
A Knowledge Network
(also called a “Community of Practice”)
is a gathering of individuals motivated
by the desire to cross organizational
boundaries, to relate to one another,
and to build a body of actionable
knowledge through coordination
and collaboration.
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How do knowledge network members
behave?
Commonly agreed
goals and objectives
Collaboration (“self-
sacrifice”)
Trust
Cohesiveness
Connectivity
(“networked” beyond)
Using a working
platform
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Knowledge networks scale-up
knowledge effectively
11
Yamey, Gavin (Evidence to Policy, Global Health Group), “Scaling Up Global Health Interventions: A Proposed Framework for Success,” PLoS
Medicine June 2011, Volume 8, Issue 6. E1001049.
Scaling up Global Health Interventions Framework:
“Choose a simple intervention widely agreed to be
valuable, have strong leadership and governance,
have active engagement of a range of
implementers and of the target community,
tailor the scale-up approach to the local
situation, and incorporate research into
implementation.”
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4 types of Knowledge Networks
Practitioner Support
Translation, local
adaptation
Coordination
Learning / Innovation
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Gates Foundation research nonprofit
case studies
1. Strive (Coordination)
2. Harvard Project Zero
Learning Innovations Lab
(Learning / Innovation)
3. IHI Perinatal IMPACT
Community (Translation/
adaptation)
4. KM4Dev (Practitioner
Support)
© AlignConsulting www.alignconsultinginc.com 13
Columbia University research for-profit
examples1. Fluor Corporation
(Engineering Services)
(Coordination)
2. Pfizer Inc. (Pharma)
(Learning & Innovation)
3. ConocoPhillips (Energy)
(Translation)
4. McKinsey & Company
(Management Consulting)
(Practitioner support)
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Drivers of knowledge networks’
effectiveness
15
.
Leadership and
Facilitation
Clear objectives, governance and operating model
Convening
Power
Appropriate
Technology
Feedback
mechanisms
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Threats to knowledge networks’
effectiveness
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Diffusion of
purpose
Misaligned
technology
Compromised
safety
Lack of
conversation
Compromised
absorptive
capacity
8 Design DimensionsStrategic 1. Leaders’ theory of change
2. Objectives/Outcomes/Purpose
3. Role of “expertise” and experimental learning
4. Operating model
Structural 5. Inclusion/Participation
6. Convening structures and infrastructures
7. Facilitation and social norm development
Tactical 8. Measurement, feedback and incentives
Designing knowledge networks for
Success
.
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Knowledge Network truths to live by• For the leader/core team
– Can’t be it all, can’t do it all
– Take a stand on expert-learner duality
– Proximity can trump values
– Know the 90-9-1 rule online
– Communicate to recruit, promote, celebrate
– Establish and continuously renew trust
• For the member
– Give without expecting to get
– Be multi-lingual
– Make it a “small world” (make connections intentionally)
– Bad reputation travels faster than good
– Establish and continuously renew trust
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Destination
Knowledge Networks are where necessity, creativity and
belonging come together.
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Some Reading• The Hidden Power of Social Networks:
Understanding How Work Really Gets
Done in Organizations, by Rob Cross
and Andrew Parker, Harvard Business
School Press, 2004
• Sharing Hidden Know-How by Katrina
Pugh, Jossey-Bass, April 2011
• Sustainable Communities: Top 10
CSFs for Keeping the Faith, by Katrina
Pugh IBM Synch.rono.us Blog, July 19,
2010
• Jamming with the Institute for
Healthcare Improvement “ by Katrina
Pugh and Jo Ann Endo, NASA Ask
Magazine, Winter, 2011)
20
NASA Ask Magazine
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NASA Ask Magazine
Kate Pugh, AlignConsulting and
Columbia University• Kate has 17 years of consulting and seven years of industry experience.
She held leadership positions with Intel Corporation, JPMorgan, and
Fidelity. She is on the faculty of Columbia University’s Information and
Knowledge Strategy Masters program, and is author of Sharing Hidden
Know-How (Jossey-Bass/Wiley, 2011).
• Kate helped run Intel Solution Services’ Knowledge and Process Mgt
Group, led Fidelity Personal & Workplace Investments KM, and initiated
and ran the JPMorganChase’s Finance Portal Program.
• Kate has helped launch and/or run over 20 communities of practice,
including Intel’s award-winning Enterprise Architects’ community.
Sample clients include Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Fidelity Investments,
The Gates Foundation, Institute for Healthcare Improvement, Medtronic,
Mitokine Bioscience, Project Management Institute, and The World
Bank. Kate is on the Board of Knowledge Mgt. Institute Canada.
• Kate has an MS/MBA from MIT Sloan, a BA in Economics from Williams
College, and certificates in Dialogue, Facilitation, Mediation, Project
Mgt., and LEAN Six Sigma.
• Kate has articles in Harvard Business Review, NASA Ask Magazine,
Dashboard Insight, Reuters Great Debate and Ivey Business Journal.
21
www.alignconsultinginc.com
Twitter: @katrinapugh
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