Nonprofits are increasingly turning outside to discover and spread insight about their programs, target markets, science, and processes. A powerful organizational model to do this is the knowledge network (also called community of practice). The knowledge network rides less on formal partnerships, markets or hierarchies and more on powerful social ties to drive collaborative innovation and learning. Not all knowledge networks are created alike, but there are some success factors that are universal, such as agile leadership, real-time meetings, effective use of technology, and clear mission and measurement. Please join Kate Pugh, author of Sharing Hidden Know-How (Jossey-Bass/Wiley, 2011) in a lively discussion about knowledge networks. We’ll look at ten years of research and practice on knowledge networks, as well as some highlights from a 2011 grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Takeaways:
- What are knowledge networks and how are they different from market-based partnerships, hierarchies, and think-tanks?
- What mechanisms make knowledge networks succeed?
- What can we learn from examples of nonprofit and for-profit knowledge networks?
- Where should you start to launch(or enhance) your knowledge network?
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Katrina (Kate) Pugh is author of Sharing Hidden Know-How (Jossey-Bass, Wiley, 2011), and is president of AlignConsulting, a firm that helps for-profit and nonprofit organizations plan business and technology change by channeling insight into action. She formerly was VP of Knowledge Management for Fidelity, Senior Technical Program manager for Intel Solution Services, and held leadership roles at JPMorganChase and PwC Consulting/IBM. Kate is on the Advisory Board of Knowledge Management Institute of Canada and Mitokine Bioscience, formerly Concord Academy, and is a lecturer at Columbia University’s Information and Knowledge Strategy Masters’ program.
AlignConsulting helps organizations channel insight into action. Putting conversation back into the center of strategy and knowledge-transfer, we work closely with our clients to harness untapped knowledge to solve business problems. Whether your organization is experiencing a transition, seeking strategies to accelerate innovation, making knowledge management and social media initiatives more productive, AlignConsulting can help.
