Diamond in the Basalt

I’ve been struggling a bit with how to describe this exciting thing we have going on with the Shrinking Violet Society. It’s not a “club” per se, and it seems much more significant than yet another “social network”. The term “micro-community” isn’t commonly understood, and so I’m very curious to learn about how other people are describing our purpose and our mission.

Recently I finished reading “Finding Our Way: Leadership For an Uncertain Time” by Margaret J. Wheatley. Pages 174-177 provided some interesting answers.

What do you think about the following in terms of your hopes and desires for the Shrinking Violets? What do you believe we have the potential to become?

[NOTE: I have added links to various parts of this passage to point our how I think it is directly relevant to what we are doing here in Spokane. Chances are you will see your own parallels and examples.]

Name the Community

Pioneering leaders act in isolation, unaware that they are part of a broader community. They act on intuition and experience, struggling not to revert to the practices of the past. They feel alone and strange, often criticized, even ridiculed, by their community. For believing that they can lead in new ways, solve entrenched problems, and create sustainable progress, they often get labeled negatively as idealists, dreamers, innocents.

Isolation dissolves when they learn that they are part of a community, that there are many more like them. They gain confidence and courage. They find new energy to stay in the challenges and struggles of pioneering.

The community they belong to is a community of practice, not of place, because it is formed among people who act from the same values and visions, and who are doing similar work. They may be a community of people working in education, or organic farming, or local government. They share the same type of work, yet their practices are varied and unique, specific to the needs of their local culture. In this way the community is very diverse in its expression, and very united in its purpose.

Connect the Community

Once the community has been named, it is important that people find the means to connect with one another and to keep those connections strong and present. We live in a time when connecting across distance and difference has become much easier. Technology can facilitate working as as community through dedicated websites, online conferences, and listserves. But technology is only a supplement to the need to be together in the same physical space from time to time. There is no substitute for being together, so periodic gatherings of the community, visits to each other’s towns and worksites, and any other means to meet face-to-face are essential. The stronger the connections, the more support and new knowledge will be born from those connections.

Nourish the Community

Communities of practice need to be nourished with many different resources. They require ideas, methods, mentors, processes, information, technology, equipment, money. Each of these is important, but perhaps the greatest need is that of knowledge – knowing what techniques and processes work well. For example, a leader may be conducting a community development process, yet know nothing of the means to engage the whole community, or new processes for valuing a community’s assets. Without this knowledge, people either reinvent the wheel or use whatever process they know, even inappropriate or substandard ones.

Illuminate the Community

There is a critical need to tell the stories of these pioneering leaders-in-community, to get public attention for their efforts. Remember how difficult it is for any of us to see a new paradigm, even when it’s right under our noses. People, if they do take notice, are most likely to see these new pioneers as inspiring but temporary deviations from the norm. It takes time, attention, and a consistent media focus for people to see them for what they are, examples of what’s possible, of what our new world could look like. We need to hear their stories, celebrate their successes, and continue to support them as our beacons to the future.

How Communities of Practice Differ from Networks

We live in a time when coalitions, alliances, and networks are growing. People have created many networks and, now, networks of networks. These networks are essential for successful change – they are the first step in people finding like-minded others. People usually network together for personal, even instrumental reasons. They move in and out of them based on how well they serve their own work. The formation of a network is an important preliminary gathering step.

Communities of practice are the next step, and they are different in significant ways. They are communities, which means that people make a commitment to be available to each other, to offer support to share learning, to consciously develop new knowledge. They are there not only for their own needs, but for the needs of others. These communities succeed best when they start with some type of community formation process. People need to clarify their personal intent and commitment and, as a group, the need to agree on how they will work together, how they will support one another, and what their work will be.

The speed with which people learn and grow in a community of practice is essential. Good ideas move rapidly among members, and from local to global. This new knowledge and wisdom are implemented quickly from exchanges among practitioners. The speed at which knowledge development and exchange happens is crucial, because the world needs this knowledge and wisdom NOW. Therefore, sponsoring communities of practice among pioneering leaders is a deliberate strategy to speed up the the emergence of new leadership practices everywhere, to give the world the leadership it needs at this time.