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I just read a great article in Fortune magazine about Social Network Analysis (SNA) and the benefits it can yield in an organization.

To me this is further fodder on what have been relatively obscure tools coming more into the mainstream and being refined for use with progressive learning and development departments.

Orbital RPM has just launched a SNA with one of our large clients as a way to find the best candidates to make up the ‘core group’ of a community of practice.  This is being implemented in a very large, traditional organization that has always relied on traditional training for its team members. 

 We will be using the same amount of money the organization would have spent on designing, developing and delivering a one-time course…an event…but instead we will be engaged with them for a year.  Helping sustain their learning community, manage the knowledge that’s flowing and integrate new-comers.  What a bargain!

It’s projects like these and articles like the one in Fortune that will allow us to chip away at the conventional mindset commonly applied to the training arena.

Just yesterday I wrote a post lamenting about the seeming divide between the world of CLOs and the implementation of informal learning methodologies such as communities of practice (CoP).

I have to eat a little crow on that one - not too long after I posted I received an email newsletter from CLO magazine and one of the segments was titled ‘A New Vision for Communities of Practice.’  In it is a case study about a United Way project as well as many insights from Etienne Wenger, considered to be the guru of CoPs.

Although small it’s great to see these two worlds begin to intertwine.  Follow the link above for a downloadable case study on the project while I sit here and enjoy the irony of timing.

If you’re looking for a good intro to the emerging world of collaboration technologies and how they’re impacting commerce, Wikinomics is a great start.  SocialText is currently offering a free download of Chapter 9 of Wikinomics.

 I highly recommend the read - it provides great stories, facts and insights on what media hindsight will surely declare a revolutionary technology.

Is it me or is building a community the big buzz in the field of learning and development today?  It seems that every organization I’ve gotten involved with for my own personal development is offering a membership in their own community to go along with it.

This includes Masie’s Learning 2006, the CLO Institute’s CLOinfo, TrainingOutsourcing.com’s Forums and many, many others.

This is not to sound cynical - I think the idea of having communities that can support each other’s on-going learning in a particular area is a fantastic idea.  I just think that there is a possibility for this approach to be diluted within the field of learning and development to the point that there are just too many.  I know I cannot physically keep up regular involvement with this many different communities. 

A major driver in people’s continuing participation in a community of practice is that they get value from their involvement.  It will be challenging to keep all of these communities thriving to the extent that members get enough value to participate in all of them.  I’m sure that some readers would advise me to pick a manageable number and go with those.  That’s tough because I’m the person that doesn’t want to miss any nuggets - don’t make me choose.  If there are relevant ramblings happening in many dispersed communities - might I not be the only one that finds value in a many of them?

At some point I think that people in the field of learning and development may need to consolidate these communities and perhaps one front-runner will emerge.  I am hoping so - I don’t want to miss a thing.

Want to know how other learning and development professionals would respond to your questions?

TDF (Training Director’s Forum) e-Net is a free newsletter put out by Training Magazine.  In each edition they ask for input from readers on a question posed by a reader.  The following edition will have some of the responses by individuals as well as some vendors. 

In today’s edition the topics were ‘Getting Managers Involved’ and ‘Sales Training Resources.’  One characteristic of collective group intelligence is that you have to sort out what works for you - I sometimes require a grain of salt as I read but I have found many useful nuggets in past issues.

Subscribe here if interested.