Communities of practice chapter3

How can communities become"alive"?This question has led to an interesting response;the authors came up with seven principles that,they consider,will bring some "life" into a community.The seven principles are:1.design for evolution;2.open a dialogue between inside and outside perspectives;3.invite different levels of participation;4.develop both public and private community spaces;5.focus on value;6.combine familiarity and excitement;7.create a rhythm for the community.

1.Design for evolution
Design elements should be catalysts for a community's natural evolution.The gate to a healthy growth lies within the community's dynamic nature.The goal of the design is not to impose a structure but to help the community develop.

2.Open a dialogue between inside and outside perspectives
A good community design asks for an insider's point of view which can lead to the discovery of what the community is about.Only he can judge the community's potential,its knowledge and its perspectives.

3.Invite different levels of participation
There are three main levels of participation:-core group;-active;-peripheral;each bringing an important contribution to the community.The core participates actively in disscusions and debates.Outside the core we find the active part and finally we reach the peripheral,who obeserves intereactions between the core and the active members.

4.Develop both public and private community spaces
Communities have connections both in the public and in the private space.Public space such as:meetings and websites and private space like the one-on-one networking of community members.

5.Focus on value
Communities flourish because they deliver value to the staff and also to the entire company.The everyday interactions are considered the most valuable community activities.

6.Combine familiarity and exicitement
Communities are "neutral places".What they offer to their members is interaction,they permit them to think in an open way and they also allow them to separate from work pressure.

7.Create a rhythm for the communities
"The rhythm of the community is the strongest indicator of its aliveness."We can distinguish many rhythms in a community:the syncopation of familiar and exciting events,the frequency of private interactions,the flow of people etc.