Cultivating Communities of Practice

Today's marketplace is fueled by knowledge. Yet organizing systematically to leverage knowledge remains a challenge. Leading companies have discovered that technology is not enough, and that cultivating communities of practice is the keystone of an effective knowledge strategy.

Communities of practice come together around common interests and expertise - whether they consist of first-line managers or customer service representatives, neurosurgeons or software programmers, city managers or home-improvement amateurs. They create, share, and apply knowledge within and across the boundaries of teams, business units, and even entire companies - providing a concrete path toward creating a true knowledge organization.

In Cultivating Communities of Practice, Etienne Wenger, Richard McDermott, and William M. Snyder argue that while communities form naturally, organizations need to become more proactive and systematic about developing and integrating them into their strategy. This book provides practical models and methods for stewarding these communities to reach their full potential - without squelching the inner drive that makes them so valuable.

Through in-depth cases from firms such as DaimlerChrysler, McKinsey & Company, Shell, and the World Bank, the authors demonstrate how communities of practice can be leveraged to drive overall company strategy, generate new business opportunities, tie personal development to corporate goals, transfer best practices, and recruit and retain top talent. They define the unique features of these communities and outline principles for nurturing their essential elements. They provide guidelines to support communities of practice through their major stages of development, address the potential downsides of communities, and discuss the specific challenges of distributed communities. And they show how to recognize the value created by communities of practice and how to build a corporate knowledge strategy around them.

Essential reading for any leader in today's knowledge economy, this is the definitive guide to developing communities of practice for the benefit-and long-term success-of organizations and the individuals who work in them.

• One: Communities of Practice and Their Value to Organizations
• Two: Communities of Practice and Their Structural Elements
• Three: Seven Principles for Cultivating Communities of Practice
• Four: The Early Stages of Development
• Planning and Launching Communities of Practice
• Five: The Mature Stages of Development
• Growing and Sustaining Communities of Practice
• Six: The Challenge of Distributed Communities
• Seven: The Downside of Communities of Practice
• Eight: Measuring and Managing Value Creation
• Nine: Community-Based Knowledge Initiatives
• Ten: Reweaving the World
• Communities beyond Organizations
  

A practical and more easy read than Wenger's first book (probably due to the co-authors).

It is an excellent complement with some very real and practical advice on how to initialise and utilise CoPs.

It also does a very good job of dispelling the myth that KM is about IT.

Still, you probably should read Wenger's first book before this one, to get the theoretical background.