Wolfgang responded to Chris...
> Chris Costello wrote:
>
> > Along these lines, if organizations are viewed as "webs of participation,"
> > changing the pattern of participation should change the organization. I
> > wonder what effect this has on current management processes and styles?
> > What are the deeply held assumptions of management that must be addressed
> > for changes in participation to take root?
>
> I think that the pattern of participation will only change if
> climate, culture and power distribution are changed. Maybe the most
> important conclusion is that the 'web of participation' cannot be isolated
> from existing power relationships, and we should take into account that
> information is not neutral, but has also power implications. The 'deeply
> held assumptions' are part of the cultural web of every organization, and
> part of the paradigm.
The 'web of participation' will determine who has informal/emergent power.
Those people who are in central in key information networks will have
access to, and control of, many key information/resource flows. Those
that become members of key emergent clusters(aka communities of practice)
will have opportunities that non-members will not.
Since information and network connections are not distributed evenly in an
organization, what connections you have, and what connections your
connections have(and so on) will determine what network benefits you
receive. Just like in real estate the golden rule of networks is
"Location, Location, Location".
As 'what is important' changes in the organization, 'who is important'
also changes, and as both(who and what) change the networks adapt -- the
webs of participation change.
Valdis Krebs
Los Angeles, CA
"It's the connections, stupid!"
-- Inflow@eworld.comLearning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>