April 2, 2005
I have a partial socio-gram completed for the division and this has provided me with some information regarding the interactions of the staff. While not fully completed yet, there are some things that are evident. There appears to be a small communities of practice within the division. These seems to be based on geographic location. Staff members who are members of special project teams have a tendency to stay within those teams for their support. There doesn't appear to be "cross-pollination" between these CoPs indicating that the CoPs function as small nation states with their own culture, practices, rituals, hierachy etc. This could explain the difficulty that is encountered when change is initiated. How do I help to facilitate a cross-pollination and cross-sharing of ideas and practices across these little "nation-states?" As I think about the manner in which this staff functions I begin to seem lots of silos in the field. These silos operate as independent entities rather than as part of an entire network. What conditions help to dissolve those silos? How can I help the staff to see that it's the bee who travels from flower to flower that helps the flowers flourish and reproduce? In essence, that's what I must try to do.
In other actions that I've taken related to improving my own skills in leadership in the workplace, I've started an initiative to bring together those interested in technology. For a number of years SIGTC has been trying to find ways to serve it's members better. At the present time they have a listserv, but the results from that aren't that dynamic or interactive. Recently, I've created a SIGTC room in Tapped In for hosting SIGTC events open to anyone with a Tapped In account. It has been quite successful. This action and its success have made me wonder why my CoP initiative at work has been so slow to get started. What strikes me most is that 1. people participated in the SIGTC event Podcasting because it is new and emerging and they need to find out more about it. 2. people want to interact with others who are like them, but who they would not otherwise have an opportunity to do so. In a listserv, your post and respond to everyone -- not very personal. In Tapped In, you choose what events to attend, when to chat, and when to post in a discussion. Why the difficulty in achieving this same momentum and excitement with my workplace CoP? What's different? Am I different? Is the approach different?
Perhaps, the staff at work don't really see value in interacting with their co-workers? Perhaps they feel they already interact within their smaller CoP and don't have the desire to cross-pollinate. Perhaps I need to look beyond this staff to encourage cross-pollination--that is what I did with the SIGTC Tapped In initiative--I brought in both members of SIGTC and members of Tapped In who weren't SIGTC members. In order to bring value, I need to bring the right people together. In order to get the staff to support and contribute to the library, I need to get some valuable materials in the library. In the past, staff have indicated an interest in collaborating with other staff in other intermediate units.
With this in mind, I made a revision to my next action and leaped to inviting other intermediate unit staff to join us in our collaboration efforts. I invited 4 other IUs to join us. One IU has expressed interest in learning more. I have not heard from the other 3 IUs yet. Now the questions become, how do i introduce this concept to another set staff, how do they learn the tools, how do we develop trust. Lots to think about.