Comunidades de Practica

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M W is President Emerita of Te Berkana Institute Her most recent books are Finding

Our Way Leadership for an Uncertain ime and urning o One Another Simple Conversations to Restore

Hope to the Future D F is a Berkana board member and former Co-president

R ATHER THAN WORRY ABOUT CRITICAL MASS

OUR WORK IS TO FOSTER CRITICAL CONNECTIONS

DESPITE CURRENT ADS AND SLOGANS the worlddoesnrsquot change one person at a time Itchanges as networks of relationships formamong people who discover they share acommon cause and vision of whatrsquos possibleThis is good news for those of us intent onchanging the world and creating a positivefuture Rather than worry about critical massour work is to foster critical connections Wedonrsquot need to convince large numbers of peopleto change instead we need to connect withkindred spirits Through these relationshipswe will develop the new knowledge practicescourage and commitment that lead to broad-

based change

But networks arenrsquot the whole story Asnetworks grow and transform into activeworking communities of practice we discoverhow life truly changes which is through emer-gence When separate local efforts connect

with each other as networks then strength-en as communities of practice suddenlyand surprisingly a new system emerges at agreater level of scale This system of inuencepossesses qualities and capacities that wereunknown in the individuals It isnrsquot that thosequalities and capacities were hidden theysimply did not exist until the system emergedThey are properties of the system not the indi-vidual but once there individuals possessthem And the system that emerges alwayspossesses greater power and inuence thanis possible through planned incrementachange Emergence is how life creates radica

change and takes things to scaleSince its inception in 1992 The BerkanaInstitute has been experimenting with the life-cycle of emergence how living systems beginas networks shift to intentional communitiesof practice and evolve into powerful systemscapable of global inuence Through our workwith communities in many different nations weare learning whatrsquos possible when we connectpeople across difference and distance By

Margaret Wheatley amp Deborah Frieze

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Taking Social Innovation to Scale

Shifting the trajectory of civilisation

OxfordLeadership

JournalDecember 2009 bull Volume 1 Issue 1



2 bull Oxford Leadership Journal | Shifting the trajectory of civilization

Johannesburg Oasis In the inner city of Johannesburgthere is a neighborhood called Hillbrow which is infamousfor overcrowded accommodations and high unemploymentand crime In the midst of the intense urban hustle there is apark that has become an oasis for the people living nearby

The GreenHouse Project has arisen to serve this commu-nity The broad aim of the GreenHouse Project is to teachsimple practices for making Johannesburg a green city

Greenhouse Project Video introduction

applying the lessons of livingsystems and working inten-tionally with emergence andits lifecycle we are demon-strating how local socialinnovation can be taken to

scale and provide solutionsto many of the worldrsquos mostintractable issuesmdashsuch ascommunity health ecologicalsustainability and economicself-reliance

Why we need tounderstand networks

Researchers and social activists are begin-ning to discover the power of networks andnetworking And there is a growing recogni-tion that networks are the new form of orga-nizing Evidence of self-organized networks iseverywhere social activists terrorist groupsdrug cartels street gangs web-based interestgroups While we now see these everywhereit is not because theyrsquore a new form of orga-nizing Itrsquos because wersquove removed our oldparadigm blinders that look for hierarchy andcontrol mechanisms in the belief that organi-zation only happens through human will and

interventionNetworks are the only form of organizationused by living systems on this planet Thesenetworks result from self-organization whereindividuals or species recognize their interde-pendence and organize in ways that supportthe diversity and viability of all Networkscreate the conditions for emergence which ishow life changes Because networks are therst stage in emergence it isessential that we understandtheir dynamics and how theydevelop into communities

and then systems

Yet much of the current work on networksdisplays old paradigm bias In social networkanalysis physical representations of thenetwork are created by mapping relation-ships This is useful for convincing peoplethat networks exist and people are often

fascinated to see the network made visibleOther network analysts name roles played bymembers of the network or make distinctionsbetween different parts of the network suchas core and periphery It may not be the intentof these researchers but their work is oftenused by leaders to nd ways to manipulate thenetwork to use it in a traditional and control-ling way

Whatrsquos missing in these analyses is an explo-ration of the dynamics of networks

bull Why do networks form What are theconditions that support their creation

bull What keeps a network alive and growingWhat keeps members connected

bull What type of leadership is requiredWhy do people become leaders

bull What type of leadership interferes with ordestroys the network

bull What happens after a healthy network formsWhatrsquos next

bull If we understand these dynamics and thelifecycle of emergence what can we do asleaders activists and social entrepeneurs tointentionally foster emergence



Volume 1 Issue 1 bull December 2009 bull 3

A sustainable village in Zimbabwe YesKufunda Village near Harare thrives in the midstof one of the worldrsquos deepest socio-economiccrises Some 50 of Zimbabweans are in needof food aid and unemployment is estimated atover 80 and rising Within this context Kufunda

Village demonstrates that each community can behealthy vibrant and largely self-reliant The village

readily shares its skills and practices to nourishitself sustainably both with other Zimbabweansand with international visitors

wwwkufundaorg

What is Emergence

Emergence violates so many of our Westernassumptions of how change happens that it

often takes quite a while to understand it Innature change never happens as a result oftop-down pre-conceived strategic plans orfrom the mandate of any single individual orboss Change begins as local actions springup simultaneously in many different areas Ifthese changes remain disconnected nothinghappens beyond each locale However whenthey become connected local actions canemerge as a powerful system with inuence ata more global or comprehensive level (Globalhere means a larger scale not necessarily theentire planet)

These powerful emergent phenomena appearsuddenly and surprisingly Think about how theBerlin Wall suddenly came down how the SovietUnion ended how corporate power quicklycame to dominate globally In each case therewere many local actions and decisions mostof which were invisible and unknown to eachother and none of which was powerful enoughby itself to create change But when these localchanges coalesced new power emerged

What could not be accomplished by diplo-macy politics protests or strategy suddenlyhappened And when each materialized mostwere surprised Emergent phenomena alwayshave these characteristics They exert muchmore power than the sum of their parts theyalways possess new capacities different fromthe local actions that engendered them theyalways surprise us by their appearance

It is important to note that emergence alwaysresults in a powerful system that has manymore capacities than could ever be predictedby analyzing the individual parts We see this

in the behavior of hive insects such as beesand termites Individual ants possess none ofthe intelligence or skills that are in the hiveNo matter how intently scientists study thebehavior of individual ants they can neversee the behavior of the hive Yet once the hiveforms each ant acts with the intelligence andskillfulness of the whole

This aspect of emergence has profound impli-cations for social entrepreneurs Instead ofdeveloping them individually as leaders andskillful practitioners we would do better to

connect them to like-minded others and createthe conditions for emergence The skills andcapacities needed by them will be found inthe system that emerges not in better trainingprograms

Because emergence only happens throughconnections Berkana has developed a fourstage model that catalyzes connections as themeans to achieve global level change NameConnect Nourish Illuminate (see sidebar page5) We focus on discovering pioneering effortsand naming them as such We then connectthese efforts to other similar work globally Wenourish this network in many ways but most

CHANGE BEGINS AS LOCAL ACTIONS SPRING UP

SIMULTANEOUSLY IN MANY DIFFERENT AREAS WHEN THEY

BECOME CONNECTED LOCAL ACTIONS CAN EMERGE AS A

POWERFUL SYSTEM WITH INFLUENCE AT A MORE GLOBAL OR

COMPREHENSIVE LEVEL




Bringing Generations Together Santropol Roulant brings people togetheacross generations and cultures through an innovative approach to meals-on-wheels and by engaging youth to take an active role in their communitySantropol Roulant uses food as a vehicle to create trust and build bridges

between individuals in a city where isolation among the elderly is the highest inCanada httpwwwsantropolroulantorg

Shikshantar is an applied research institute dedicated tocatalyzing systemic tranformation of education to supportself-directed development throughout India Among theirinitiatives are (1) Udaipur as a Learning City addressingproblems inherent in modern urban life (2) Families Learning

Together resources for families experimenting in theirhomes and communities and (3) Businesses We Believe Inexploring sustainable business eco-livelihood and alterna-tive currencies httpwwwswarajorgshikshantar

stage of emergence is the development ofcommunities of practice (CoPs) Many suchsmaller individuated communities can springfrom a robust network CoPs are also self-organized People share a common work andrealize there is great benet to being in rela-

tionship They use this community to sharewhat they know to support one anotherand to intentionally create new knowledgefor their eld of practice These CoPs differfrom networks in signicant ways They arecommunities which means that people makea commitment to be there for each other theyparticipate not only for their own needs but toserve the needs of others

In a community of practice the focus extendsbeyond the needs of the group There is anintentional commitment to advance the eld ofpractice and to share those discoveries witha wider audience They make their resourcesand knowledge available to anyone especiallythose doing related work

essentially through creating opportunities forlearning and sharing experiences and shift-ing into communities of practice We also illu-minate these pioneering efforts so that manymore people will learn from them We areattempting to work intentionally with emer-gence so that small local efforts can becomea global force for change

The Lifecycle of Emergence

Stage One Networks We live in a time whencoalitions alliances and networks are formingas the means to create societal change Thereare ever more networks and now networksof networks These networks are essential forpeople nding like-minded others the rststage in the lifecycle of emergence Itrsquos impor-

tant to note that networks are only the begin-ning They are based on self-interestmdashpeopleusually network together for their own benetand to develop their own work Networks tendto have uid membership people move in andout of them based on how much they person-ally benet from participating

Stage Two Communities of Practice Networks make it possible for people to ndothers engaged in similar work The second




Four Stages for Developing Leadership-in-Community

Berkana works with pioneering leaders andcommunities using a four-stage approach This

has evolved out of our understanding of how living systems grow and change and years of practice and experimentation

I Name Pioneering leaders act in isolation unaware that theirwork has broader value They are too busy to think

about extending their work and too humble to thinkthat others would benet Berkanarsquos rst act is to

recognize them as pioneers with experiences that areof value to others

II Connect Life grows and changes through the strength of itsconnections and relationships (In nature if a system

lacks health the solution is to take in information

from multiple sources and connect that informationto get an accurate picture of the system as a whole)Berkana creates connections in many different waysWe design and facilitate community gatherings We

host networks where people can exchange ideas and resources Our collaborative technology supportscommunities of practice through dedicated websitesonline conferences asynchronous conversations andco-created knowledge products

III Nourish Communities of practice need many different

resources ideas mentors processes technology

equipment money Each is important but foremost among these is learning and knowledge knowingwhat techniques and processes work well and learn-

ing from experience as people do the work Berkana provides many of these sources of nourishment but increasingly we nd that the most signicant nourishment comes from the interactions and exchanges among pioneering leaders themselves They need and want to share their practices experiences anddreams Creating opportunities for people to learntogether has become our primary way of nourishingtheir efforts

IV Illuminate It is difcult for anybody to see work based on adifferent paradigm If people do notice such work it

is at best characterized as an inspiring deviation fromthe norm It takes time and attention for people to seedifferent approaches for what they are examples ofwhat the new world could be The Berkana commu-

nity publishes articles tells our stories at confer-ences and hosts learning journeys where peoplevisit pioneering efforts learn from them directly anddevelop lasting relationships

Building Urban Communities Instituto Elos helps people contrib-ute to their communities joyfully willingly and cooperatively Workingprimarily with high-risk urban and traditional communities in SaoPaulo Brazil and with youth and social entrepreneurs from four conti-nents Elos volunteers engage communities in the design and build-ing of structures such as day-care centres housing and communityspaces that will re-establish and strengthen social connections and civic mindedness httpwarriorswithoutweaponswordpresscomsobre-o-elos-brasil-2

The speed with which people learn and grow in acommunity of practice is noteworthy Good ideasmove rapidly amongst members New knowledge andpractices are implemented quickly The speed at whichknowledge development and exchange happens iscrucial because local regions and the world need thisknowledge and wisdom now

Stage Three Systems of Inuence The third stage

in emergence can never be predicted It is the suddenappearance of a system that has real power and inu-ence Pioneering efforts that hovered at the peripherysuddenly become the norm The practices developedby courageous communities become the acceptedstandard People no longer hesitate about adoptingthese approaches and methods and they learn themeasily Policy and funding debates now include theperspectives and experiences of these pioneers Theybecome leaders in the eld and are acknowledgedas the wisdom keepers for their particular issue Andcritics who said it could never be done suddenlybecome chief supporters (often saying they knew it all

along)

Emergence is the fundamental scientic explanation forhow local changes can materialize as global systemsof inuence As a change theory it offers methods andpractices to accomplish the systems-wide changesthat are so needed at this time As leaders and commu-nities of concerned people we need to intentionallywork with emergence so that our efforts will result ina truly hopeful future No matter what other changestrategies we have learned or favoured emergenceis the only way change really happens on this planet And that is very good news 983141




Johannesburg Oasis In the inner city of Johannesburgthere is a neighborhood called Hillbrow which is infamousfor overcrowded accommodations and high unemploymentand crime In the midst of the intense urban hustle there is apark that has become an oasis for the people living nearby

The GreenHouse Project has arisen to serve this commu-nity The broad aim of the GreenHouse Project is to teachsimple practices for making Johannesburg a green city

Greenhouse Project Video introduction

applying the lessons of livingsystems and working inten-tionally with emergence andits lifecycle we are demon-strating how local socialinnovation can be taken to

scale and provide solutionsto many of the worldrsquos mostintractable issuesmdashsuch ascommunity health ecologicalsustainability and economicself-reliance

Why we need tounderstand networks

Researchers and social activists are begin-ning to discover the power of networks andnetworking And there is a growing recogni-tion that networks are the new form of orga-nizing Evidence of self-organized networks iseverywhere social activists terrorist groupsdrug cartels street gangs web-based interestgroups While we now see these everywhereit is not because theyrsquore a new form of orga-nizing Itrsquos because wersquove removed our oldparadigm blinders that look for hierarchy andcontrol mechanisms in the belief that organi-zation only happens through human will and

interventionNetworks are the only form of organizationused by living systems on this planet Thesenetworks result from self-organization whereindividuals or species recognize their interde-pendence and organize in ways that supportthe diversity and viability of all Networkscreate the conditions for emergence which ishow life changes Because networks are therst stage in emergence it isessential that we understandtheir dynamics and how theydevelop into communities

and then systems

Yet much of the current work on networksdisplays old paradigm bias In social networkanalysis physical representations of thenetwork are created by mapping relation-ships This is useful for convincing peoplethat networks exist and people are often

fascinated to see the network made visibleOther network analysts name roles played bymembers of the network or make distinctionsbetween different parts of the network suchas core and periphery It may not be the intentof these researchers but their work is oftenused by leaders to nd ways to manipulate thenetwork to use it in a traditional and control-ling way

Whatrsquos missing in these analyses is an explo-ration of the dynamics of networks

bull Why do networks form What are theconditions that support their creation

bull What keeps a network alive and growingWhat keeps members connected

bull What type of leadership is requiredWhy do people become leaders

bull What type of leadership interferes with ordestroys the network

bull What happens after a healthy network formsWhatrsquos next

bull If we understand these dynamics and thelifecycle of emergence what can we do asleaders activists and social entrepeneurs tointentionally foster emergence







wwwkufundaorg

What is Emergence














COMPREHENSIVE LEVEL








































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wwwkufundaorg

What is Emergence














COMPREHENSIVE LEVEL








































along)









































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