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, July 29, 2008

Map Reading

I'm just getting Susan (our Tom-Tom) ready for a roadtrip to Wisconsin, clearing my desk, came back to notes from the excellent workshop on networks for social change I attended last week at IISC (Interaction Institute for Social Change). There was a rich mixture of attendees from the nonprofit area, including both projects and funders. I was also very happy to catch up with Marilyn Darling, who facilitated an Emergent Learning Map during the afternoon. It was a great refresher and a reminder that I need to use these maps more often.

I was gratified that Net Work is being received very well in this community, due in no small part to the endorsement of Roberto Cremonini was is doing wonderful things in his role as CKO of the Barr Foundation (and who was also at the workshop). I would like the book to sell better (without undue labor on my part, of course), but in the main I am really happy that people who are doing work that matters tell me that the book is making a difference for them.

Here is a wonderful quote that was on the wall during the session:

I am reminded the most important thing a map shows, if we pause to look at it long enough, if we travel on it widely enough, if we think about it hard enough, is all the things we do not know.

The quote is attributed to Stephen Hall, whom I assume to mean the science writer, Stephen Hall, who writes about maps.

Bruce Hoppe did a live network analysis to create a map of the people in the room, his response to the quote was to acknowledge that sometimes maps (especially network maps) can be very messy and ugly. For my part, I loved the resonance with what I try to install as a mantra when I teach organizational network analysis: "The maps don't tell you anything; they help you to ask better questions."

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patti anklam. How to make networks work.

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