Dave B's Collaboration in Organisations

Interesting model that identifies different stages of development.  I particularly like the 'Value' sections, as they create a vision of what is actually happening within the community.  Trouble is, it feels a bit like a scientific approach to the management, which is counterintuative  

We have found that demand for qualifications and other learning solutions has held up better than expected.  I put it down to individuals wanting to give themselves an advantage in the workplace and employers loking to replace knowledge and experience that has left the organisaion.  But this post demonstrates that the reasons are far more complex

Amongst the reason identified are disruptive technology, industry consolidation, innovation and competitive pressures.  Well worth a read

Reverse mentoring, is where an individual with skills and experience in a specific area provides mentoring to someone who is at a more senior level.  With the growing importance of technology and social media in all aspects of business and learning, this is a great way for leaders to gain support from those within the organisation.  This can also be an extraordinary motivational tool, as it allows mentors to demonstrate their experitise 

Not sure what all the fuss is about?  This blog provides a great summary of how Twitter can be used to assist learning

A facinating insight into the future of work, both in the blog and the comments.  Education needs to take note to prepare students for the future and individuals need to take note if they are to prepare themselves for the networked economy.  One of a series of posts on the future of work

Culture change leading to openness, transparency, collaboration and cooperation is required to become a social business.  This post sets the scene, but in my experience it oversimplifies the process for more traditional sectors.  Most people feel overwhelmed with work and don't see learning or collaboration as a valid use of their time at work!  In today's complex world this is empowering staff to treat work as learning and learning is work will be essential for success.

Another post from Harold that gets to the heart of the issue...enterprise social networks and collaboration are the buzzwords, but cooperation and the distribution of power are essential if you are to maximise the social capital in an organisation

And I really love this post, which concludes with the following line:

"Serendipity, it seems, favours the prepared and connected mind"

It reminds me of this quote, attributed to Bill Shankley:

"The harder I work, the luckier I get"

Today, working hard means being part of an active network

For more on thoughts on luck, check out Professor Rchard Wiseman: http://richardwiseman.wordpress.com/

Back when I designed and delivered training courses, we would always impress on delegates the improtance of transfering their learning into work. Today, there has been a convergence between learning and work, with learning in the workflow increasing in importance.  This post looks at ways in which L&D can support informal learning and hence performance 

If you work for an L&D department and you know things are changing, but your not sure what it is or what you need to do differently, this is a great place to start

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I'm not sure how to pronounce it, but there are some interesting ideas here about competency and capability.  There is an obsession with the idea of  classifying competency and then recruiting a person who can demonstrate that they have the competencies for a specific job description.

This post recognises the importance of competence, but also capability, which Cairns (2000) describes as the ability "to take appropriate and effective action to formulate and solve problems in both familiar and unfamiliar and changing settings".  I once heard someone say that competence trumps qualification, could it be that capable trumps competent?

Content curation will be as imporant for workplace learning and continuing professional development as it is for education.  The complexity of work and the exponential growth of information means that new was to access relevant resources will be needed.  Following trusted 'curators' and sharing the best links will be more effective than linear search engines 

"What would happen if we saw the business of work, not just as a means for trade and profit, but as a vehicle for realizing our deepest human potentials in a conscious and creative transformation?"

Sounds like the charitable sector to me!  We are importing business skills, perhaps there can be a two way transfer...but only if we join the conversation! 

This post looks at the value of proximity in relation to the likelyhood of collaboration.  Studies show that the value sharply decreases in a matter of a few feet and agrues that an online social platform is an essential compliment to being in the same physical space 

As a home worker and someone who is an early adopter of my organisations Yammer community, I love John Stepper's blog :)  This post looks at the design of office space and the impact this has on cooperation and collaboration between co-workers.  John goes on to consider the role of technology as a better, cheaper alternative.  

From my own experience, I can say that participation in Yammer has helped me get to know people across the organisation and provided a platform for my colleaues in the Education team to 'narrate our work'

I guess we have really reached the point where management has to become leadership!  

Releasing control, working cooperatively and collaboratively and flipping the traditional management pyramid are ways to become an effective leader in the connected workplace