Networks, Complexity, and Relatedness

Networks, Complexity, and Relatedness
Inquiry and learning into social networks, organizational network analysis, and the relationships among people and systems in complex organizations and networks.

Tuesday, February 24, 2004

On the relatedness end of things

I just read Jon Udell on the application development of social software (InfoWorld: Is social networking just another men’s group?)

This awakened my third theme (relatedness) for a moment, as I was reminded of the work of Jean Baker Miller and how it inspired my friend Maureen Harvey to launch a project at Digital to look at women in the software engineering group. A part of the task force that engaged in a year-long dialogue about (1)what women bring to work that's different from men, and (2)the forces in the work environment that don't enable them to use those gifts fully. It was during this time that I met the late Anita Borg, whose mission in life was to bring more women into computer engineering disciplines.

A key theme in this work is that women are, in the main, better at relationships than men, and that in fact relationships are how women define themselves. Dr. Miller once said to me, when I asked her about her vision for the future, and she said, in effect, that when women are able to fully bring their gifts to the workplace it will be nothing short of transformation -- a better place for everyone.

Google, I just learned, has announced the Anita Borg Scholarships for women in computing, to further Anita's work.

In the report of our task force we wrote that it was women were well suited to dealing with the challenges of increasingly complex, interdependent computing systems. We hear very well.

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patti anklam. How to make networks work.

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