Cultivating Communities of Practice: A Guide to Managing Knowledge

by Etienne Wenger, Richard A. McDermott, William Snyder

Overview

Today's economy is fueled by knowledge. Every leader knows this to be true, yet few have systematic methods for converting organizational knowledge into economic value. This book argues that communities of practice—groups of individuals formed around common interests and expertise—provide the ideal vehicle for driving knowledge-management strategies and building lasting competitive advantage. Written by leading experts in the field, Cultivating Communities of Practice is the first book to outline models and methods for systematically developing these essential groups. Through compelling research and company examples, including DaimlerChrysler, McKinsey & Company, Shell, and the World Bank, authors Etienne Wenger, Richard McDermott, and William M. Snyder show how world-class organizations have leveraged communities of practice to drive strategy, generate new business opportunities, solve problems, transfer best practices, develop employees' professional skills, and recruit and retain top talent. Underscoring the new central role communities of practice are playing in today's knowledge economy, Cultivating Communities of Practice is the definitive guide to fostering, designing, and developing these powerful groups within and across organizations.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781578513307
Publisher:	Harvard Business Review Press
Publication date:	03/01/2002
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.60(h) x (d)

About the Author

Etienne Wenger is a renowned expert and consultant on knowledge management and communities of practice in San Juan, California.

Richard McDermott is a leading expert of organization and community development in Boulder, Colorado.

William M. Snyder is a founding partner of Social Capital Group, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Editorial Reviews

Practical, yet grounded in rich theory, Cultivating Communities of Practice is the definitive work on how to understand organizations from a community point of view.

A New Look at Old Ways of Managing Knowledge
What are "communities of practice"? The authors, each a seasoned organizational consultant and an expert on the subject, write that they are "groups of people who share a concern, a set of problems, or a passion about a topic, and who deepen their knowledge and expertise in this area by interacting on an ongoing basis."

These informal groups can range from engineers who use a particular technology or tool and get together to discuss the fine points of their common focus, to groups of soccer moms and dads sharing parenting tips during a game. They are made up of people who do not necessarily work together every day, but they find their meetings informative and valuable. When the members of these communities are together, they share information, tips and insights, help each other solve problems, and discuss their common needs and concerns.

Communities of practice have a long history, and are a fundamental way for people to share their unique perspectives on their topics and bodies of common knowledge. During the Middle Ages, guilds served the same function for the artisans of Europe, and now they are everywhere and represent both visible groups and informal gatherings that occur when several like-minded individuals discuss their common concerns.

They are made up of core members as well as occasional participants, and the authors write that they should serve a central role in businesses. They also write that managers must face the challenge of helping them become intentional and systematic ways for organizations to manage knowledge.

Keeping Up With Changes
According to the authors, the key to successin a global knowledge economy is learning how to keep knowledge on the cutting edge, how to deploy it, and how to leverage it in operations and spread it throughout the organization. Considering how knowledge is becoming more complex every day, and the global nature of expanding knowledge markets, they write that organizations need communities of practice that are focused on critical areas to keep up with changes.

Communities of practice can contribute greatly to competitive advantage, global success and even the recruitment of new talent, because they recognize that knowledge is both social and individual. Appreciating the collective nature of knowledge is the job of management, and "conventional structures do not address knowledge-related problems as effectively as they do problems of performance and accountability." The authors write that communities of practice are the ideal social structure for "stewarding" knowledge, and managers can facilitate their effectiveness by assigning responsibility to the people who generate and share the knowledge they need, and cultivating these social forums that support the "living nature of knowledge."

Many Forms of Community
The authors write that communities of practice can consist of only a few specialists, or can consist of hundreds of people, but the larger ones might require subdivision by region or subtopic to encourage member participation. Some can exist for just a few years, and others, such as those that pass skills from generation to generation, have existed for centuries.

They can be spread over vast distances and communicate via e-mail, or they can be local and meet face-to-face regularly. They can be made up of people from the same discipline, or they can combine people with different backgrounds. Although their purposes can vary, they all share a basic structure that combines these three elements:

1. A domain of knowledge: This creates common ground and a sense of common identity. A well-defined domain affirms a community's purpose and value to stakeholders.
2. A community: This creates the social fabric of learning. Strong communities foster interaction and relationships that are based on mutual respect and trust.
3. A practice: This is a set of frameworks, ideas, tools, information, styles and documents that community members share.

Why Soundview Likes This Book
The authors have created a practical guide for managers to help them understand, implement and cultivate this tool for increasing the productivity of knowledge workers. By explaining the conceptual foundations of communities of practice along with the art of developing them, they provide firm grounds on which managers can build them within their own organizations. Not only do they clearly present a solid case for moving the concept from theory to practice, but they also present ways for organizations to measure and manage communities of practice while maximizing their potential, within business, government, education and the wider community at large. Copyright (c) 2002 Soundview Executive Book Summaries

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