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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.

I recently spent a weekend in Washington D.C. to make a vacation out of the inaugural CLO Academy that was being held in Lansdowne, VA.

It was a quick trip in D.C. so we were rushed to see the major sites. We started at the National Archives building where they have on display the Constitution, Bill of Rights, Declaration of Independence along with access to countless other historical documents.

While up close and personal with these very elaborate and elegant documents, I wondered what the process would have been had our country been formed when the Founding Fathers had access to some of today’s Web 2.0 tools that we’re now using for learning and collaboration.

Imagine Benjamin Franklin and John Adams developing their ideas for the Constitution on a wiki, Thomas Paine keeping citizens informed about the American Revolution via his blog rather than the pamphlet ‘Common Sense’ or all of the Founding Fathers forming a community of practice that keeps in touch about their progress via an online portal.

What they would have gained in efficiencies back then is perhaps what we would have lost in enjoyment today. It’s tough to imagine throngs of people gathered around and craning their necks to sneak a peek of the final wiki page of the Constitution. Would John Hancock’s digital signature have the same impact as the pen and ink version does?  Probably not.

Don’t mistake my tone, though.  I’m all for these Web 2.0 tools and enjoy the efficiency they bring to offices and homes each day.  It just seems that the more efficient we get, the less that opportunity for nostalgia exists. 

On the other hand, perhaps these advacements will serve to make the historic documents all the more rare as times go by so that in several decades our societies will just appreciate the fact that they’re on paper - let alone written by hand.  If this serves to create more awareness and interest in our history, I say that’s one more benefit of the progress we’re making.