community sensemaking

We had a great conversation today for our monthly Zoom call with the perpetual beta coffee club. We had folks on the call from Japan, France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the UK, USA, Canada, and Spain. The diversity of perspectives really adds to our collective understanding, especially since this is a trusted space amongst peers.

A couple of books were recommended in the conversation.

The World of Yesterday

Last Lion: The Fall and Rise of Ted Kennedy

We also talked about organizational network analysis and referenced a Microsoft report — The Hidden Ways We Really Work Together as well as its dark side — using technology to spy on people.

We also discussed the lack of time and space for reflection in many organizations. I shared my blog post on that topic — reflecting on reflection.

This follows my last post — community finds — where I shared some of what we have discussed in several online communities. These are communities, not networks. Members self-identify with the community’s objectives. Membership is often by invitation only. I am finding that my deeper conversations are in these communities and not some much on consumer social media platforms, like Twitter or LinkedIn. I still get good ideas from my networks, but it’s in my communities that I can make sense of these.

Rachel Happe is in one of my communities and she recently shared this image that shows the difference between groups, communities, and networks.

Image: @rhappe