Trainers had better become mentors, coaches and facilitators very soon, or they will become irrelevant in an age of ubiquitous access to content and expertise

Heh ... Euan & I were just talking about this about 2 hours ago over coffee.

I'd say (and I am guessing he'd say, but I won't say for him) that line managers and IT ppl had better get some mentoring, coaching and facilitation into their kit bags / under their belts, etc. also.

You've written eloquently about community management before. These issues all redound to (on ?) the need for new fundamental assumptions about work design and the role(s) of manager in what it means to "manage" purposeful activities because, well, it's looking more and more likely that many of us will be working in community more and more as the future unfolds.

We'll need to be learning all the time, hence the need for effective and consistent mentoring, coaching and facilitation.