Twelve Laws of Networks

by Patti Anklam

January 5, 2009 at 1:00 pm · Filed under Collaboration, Culture, Networks + Networking

For my twelfth and final day of posting on networks, I’m using my network and reposting the “New Rules for the Internet Age” by Kevin Kelly,  first published in Wired magazine in September 1997. These re recited as “Twelve Principles of the Network Economy“   in a post that came my way recently.

Although in their full Kevin Kelly version many of these relate to bits and wires and the power of the Internet, I was struck by how they can also be reframed as operating principles for using the net work lens. I also think it is important to recognize that our engagement with social networks followed (naturally, no doubt) from the extraordinary advances in global computer networks and all that they have enabled us to do.

1. The Law of Connection. Always connect. Close triangles, bridge gaps, make it flow.
2. The Law of Plentitude. As the network grows in size, its potential value grows exponentially.
3. The Law of Exponential Value. The sum is greater than its parts; we know more collectively than any of us can ever know individually.
4. The Law of Tipping Points. Managing in complex environments means watching for patterns to emerge, and leveraging those patterns to make significant shifts.
5. The Law of Increasing Returns. The more we invest in net work, the stronger our networks become, and the more we have to invest in them.
6. The Law of Inverse Pricing. Small, inexpensive changes, purposefully applied, can have a richer impact than costly detailed “solutions.”
7. The Law of Generosity. The more we give away, the more we get.
8. The Law of the Allegiance. Shifting allegiance from hierarchical organizations to shared leadership in networks creates fluidity and commitment.
9. The Law of Devolution. Accountability shifts from the top/center to the core/periphery.
10. The Law of Displacement. Our solitary, inward focused organizations will be displaced by networks.
11. The Law of Churn. Our networks are constantly changing, and we must embrace living in complexity.
12. The Law of Inefficiencies.  In the words of Peter Drucker, “Don’t solve problems, seek opportunities.”

I was reminded of these in a conversation this morning with a local selectman (in much of New England, towns are still governed by Town Meeting and local affairs are stewarded by elected selectpersons). He is trying to shift the thinking of three towns who are driving to a “solution” to a large, complex problems by showing them how small, incremental, “safe-fail” experiments can lead to a networked resolution.

(I now return to my irregular unscheduled blogging. Thanks for your patience.)

The twelve days of Net Work:

• Twelve Network Laws
• Eleven Interventions
• Ten Social Soft[wares]
• Nine tensions tensing
• Eight Principles
• Seven Leaders Lessons
• Six myths of networks
  
• Five purposes
• Four design facets
• Three network tools
• Two network sources
• One network lens

Nine Tensions Tensing

by Patti Anklam

January 2, 2009 at 9:20 am · Filed under Change Management, Management, Networks + Networking, Tips + Pointers

Stewarding and working with networks has some science (the science of the structure of networks), but it is mostly art. Because a human network consists of a set of relationships, it is in constant change. This is the very nature of networks. On the fifth day, I summarized the broad areas of purpose that can be ascribed to networks. Today, I offer nine sets of tensions, each a continuum, that are always at work in networks, whether they are made explicit or not. Distinguishing them, and bringing them to the foreground in network design or diagnostic is a critical task of net work.

Briefly:

1. What is the balance between the value of the network to the network and the personal value that individuals receive by being part of it?
2. Has the network been structured in a top-down way, with rules of communication and decision making, or are the network’s properties (structure, governance) emergent, flexible, and responsive to environmental context?
3. Is the membership of the network closed, or is it open to anyone to participate?
4. Does the network horde and and generate knowledge internal to the network or does it actively solicit and include external views, ideas, and opinions?
5. Is the purpose of the network and the value it creates focused on outcomes and results, or do members participate for the promise of the discovery and dialogue?
6. Are the interactions among members of the network oriented toward transactions that are task-based, or do the interactions principally support exchange and creation of knowledge?
7. Is the value produced by the network primarily tangible or intangible? Is there a balance between tangible and intangible, and does there need to be balance?
8. Are the norms of the interactions, outcomes, membership rules, and governance structure codified, or have these evolved through the life of the network such that they are known and passed down as tacit knowledge?
9. Where does the network live? Does it exist only when members are together face-to-face, or only through online participation?

Managing and balancing these tensions is the work of not just the network leader, but of all members. Discomfort in a network may indicate that one of these tensions has passed the boundary set for it, and that balance needs to be restored.

Recounting:

• Eight Principles
• Seven Leaders Lessons
• Six myths of networks
  
• Five purposes
• Four design facets
• Three network tools
• Two network sources
• One network lens

Seven Leaders Lessons

by Patti Anklam

December 31, 2008 at 9:45 am · Filed under Communities, Culture, Networks + Networking, Work Design, social networks

Living in a network age requires new skills, especially for leaders. It’s time to distinguish management practices based on context. Command and control may be required in some situations, but when it comes to collaboration and innovation, only a management style based on principles of net work will do.  Here are seven for today, the seventh day of net work.

1. Network intentionally. High-performing people tend to have stronger, more intentional networks. Think about your own personal network and ask yourself whether it is diverse enough and broad enough to support your goals. Also, are you networking your group or organization, making the necessary connections across boundaries to facilitate the flow of new ideas?
2. Practice network stewardship. Pay attention to the health of the networks for which you are responsible.  Use the three mapping tools, four design facets and the eight tensions (tomorrow) to diagnose problems and develop remedies.
3. Know your place in the structure. We all have structural roles in a network as well as (perhaps) titles. As a leader, do you need to be the hub or the weaver? The orchestrator or the collaborator? Know when it is time to share or relinquish leadership. Be mindful.
4. Embrace complexity. Learn to distinguish the complex from the complicated and act accordingly, using the complexity mapping tool listed on  the Third Day.
5. Leverage technology. There is no excuse for not surveying, learning about, and introducing social technologies to help people in your networks connect and engage. (You have to wait two days for the Nine .)
6. Create the capacity for net work. Encourage those about you to develop skills to build and leverage networks in all their endeavors. The world is waking up to this. In a modest poll by Work Literacy, Network skills get the most votes for knowledge areas in which people see the most opportunity for improving effectiveness.
7. Use the network lens. We live in networks all the time, like fish in water. We have to step outside of a context to see it clearly; apply the network lens to bring focus to action.

Happy New Year!

Recounting:

• Six myths
• Five purposes
• Four design facets
• Three network tools
• Two network sources
• One network lens

Six Myths of Networks

by Patti Anklam

December 30, 2008 at 8:56 am · Filed under AppGap Tips, Networks + Networking, social media, social networks, social tools

Here on the sixth day of net work, I thought it would be good to revisit a key piece of the organizational network analysis literature. In all my posts, I take for granted that readers here understand that we must understand networks in order to work and be successfully and effectively at work and in the world.Taking networks for granted may imply, for some people, that they think they understand how networks work, including the informal organizational networks in large organizations.

Rob Cross, before the social network frenzy, identified six myths of informal networks. Coauthors Nitin Nohria and Andrew Parker worked with Rob to refine our understanding of how to counteract these myths in a Sloan Management Review article in 2002.

Myths and counter-arguments:

• To build better networks, we have to communicate more. Actually, what we need is a lower quantity of information, and more targeted, filtered information to the people who need it.
• Everyone should be connected to everyone else. What a jumble the world would be if we tried to be connected with everyone. Consider how much difficulty we have now trying to keep up with our extending networks in FB, Twitter, and so on.
• We can’t do much to aid informal networks.  I wrote an entire book on ways that networks can be supported and sustained. Informal networks need management to give them an environment in which connection and collaboration are fluid, valued, enabled with appropriate tools.
• How people fit in to networks is all a matter of personality (which can’t be changed).  When we talk about successful personal networks, we are not talking about extroverts who excel at “networking events,” but serious professionals who deliberate and carefully create and manage relationships
• Central people who have become bottlenecks should make themselves more accessible. Accessible to more people? How does that remove a bottleneck? How about a central person works at brokering introductions to move knowledge around the network and shifts responsibilities by delegating certain knowledge areas to others?
• I already know what is going on in my network. Social/organizational network analysis practitioners know full well that a map of an organizational network always contains surprises. Sure, savvy executives may have some insights, but will always welcome the detailed analysis that includes metrics that lead to action.

Isn’t it time to start a list of myths about social media networks? Here are a few to get started. What are yours?

• The number of people you follow or who follow you on Twitter is an indication of how influential you are. Actuallyi influence is a complicated calculation that takes into account not just who follows you, but who follows them, the number of people reached, frequency of tweeting, responses, etc. See  Twinfluence’s top 50 by the “reach” metrics. (Metrics are fully explained here.)
• Social networking sites are for the younger generations. Most of the people I follow are in my own age bracket, which I’ll place at 50+, plus have you looked at LinkedIn lately?
• You can’t build quality relationships online. Many of my professional and family relationships are richer, broader, and tighter because of our online connections. (Thanks to Digital Labz via Social Computing Magazine for this one.)

Here are some corporate social media network myths from Andrew Gent:

• Use of social networking sites negatively impacts employees’ performance at work. How about some of the positive aspects of using social networks, like the way that 70% of nGenera’s 91 hires over the last year came from employee and recruiter social networks?
• Employers troll social networking sites to checkout potential employee. Maybe some managers with too much time on their hands, but shouldn’t managers be encouraging people to reach out, extend their networks so that more ideas and brains can be access to solve hard problems?

Recounting:

• Five purposes
• Four design facets
• Three network tools
• Two network sources
• One network lens

Five Network Purposes

by Patti Anklam

December 29, 2008 at 10:30 am · Filed under Networks + Networking, Tips + Pointers, social networks

The purpose of a network is that which animates it and engages its members in caring about it. Because networks can be so rich and multilayered, I simplified the perspective by defining five broad categories of network:

• Mission: Social good or environmental improvement at the local, national, regional, or global level
• Business: Creation of tangible value — business development, production of goods and services, financial wealth, or any operationally output-focused endeavor.
• Idea: Generative thinking for innovation, problem-solving, or advocacy
• Learning:Continuous improvement and enhancement of personal or collective knowledge
• Personal: Individual support, growth, and knowledge

We see overlaps in all sorts, for example, we may develop a strong personal network in the context of our business or social pursuits, but the value we receive from each remains distinct. As I said in yesterday’s post, all networks have a purpose, and all networks produce value. The net work is to distinguish what that value is, and to take action to appreciate it and make it appreciate.

One of the exercises I include in my NetWorkShops is to ask participants to list the networks to which they belong, and to ascribe a purpose to each.  People report overlaps, but also insights that come from clarifying what it is that they get from each network they belong to. This is part of the net work shift that comes with the network lens.

Recounting:

• Four design facets
• Three network tools
• Two network sources
• One network lens

Four Network Design Facets

by Patti Anklam

December 28, 2008 at 9:37 am · Filed under AppGap Tips, Communities, Culture, Networks + Networking

Purpose, structure, style, and value. What I came to learn about how to understand networks came down to these four simple aspects:

• Purpose. I assert that all networks have a purpose, even if it is not yet discovered. If it can be identified and has a name, its purpose can be discerned. (More on Purpose on the Fifth Day.) The purpose drives action and commitment. Loose purpose leads to loose commitments and ultimately a network breakdown. Clear purposeand commitment enable a network to accomplish much more than any one person or part can do alone.
• Structure. I can’t say enough about how understanding the structure of a network provides clues to how it operates and how it can be improved.  The tools provided on the Third Day can be used to understand the structure and the patterns within it. Hub and spoke = command and control. Federation = decentralized command and control. Core/periphery = vibrant core with an ever evolving ecosystem of participants.
• Style. The network’s style is in its look and feel, leadership attributes, the emotional resonance of the network’s interactions, its space, place, and pace, its culture. (More on Style on the Eleventh Day.)
• Value. Just as all networks have purpose, they all produce value. That is value for the network itself, for the individuals in it, and often a larger set of beneficiaries. A strong network of nonprofits makes each nonprofit stronger, increases the effectiveness of the people in it and their personal reward for doing good work, and enables the network to reach more people and provide more resources. Business network for the sole purpose of creating more monetary (or monetizable) value.

Use this simple mantra — purpose, structure, style, value — as a guide when you are thinking about creating or joining a network. Can you characterize it? Can you support its purpose? How is it structured? Is leadership held tightly or distributed? Does the language used by those in the network speak to you? Does the network listen to you? What value does the network produce and for whom? Working through these four facets will give you a headstart on making sense of the network, your role in it, and how to engage it.

Recounting:

• Four design facets
• Three network tools
• Two network sources
• One network lens

Three Mapping Tools

by Patti Anklam

December 27, 2008 at 11:27 am · Filed under Networks + Networking, social networks

A powerful aspect of working with the network lens is that the lens offers visual tool that help you to see structure and patterns in the network. The visualizations often confirm the results of assessments reached through deductions and logic, but just as often offer insights that would not otherwise be possible.

We live in a visual time, and there are a plethora of visual tools to support how we work (see Celine’s recent post on MindMeister). I use the following three to help me (and others) make sense of the networks that are important to them.

• Organizational network analysis (ONA)
• Value network analysis (VNA)
• Cynefin methods for mapping complexity

Organizational network analysis is a method based on social network analysis (SNA) that collects relational information about people, organizations, events, and so on, and produces statistical analyses and visual network maps illustrating or highlighting aspects of the relationships.  I find it very helpful even as a “back of the napkin” exercise, to help people understand where there are gaps or bottlenecks in an organization. Maps can help identify people who are key to the organization who might not otherwise be recognized, and opportunities for creating connections across groups who may benefit from exchange of ideas or knowledge.A network map illustrates people (nodes) and ties (connections between them). Ties represent the nature and strength of the relationship: How often are ideas exchanged? Do people know each other sufficiently that they know when to call on them? Do people receive value from their interactions? There are wonderful examples of ONA on Valdis Kreb’s site; if you want a deeper dive into how it’s done, you can download my four-part SNA Masterclass.

While ONA maps the network at an individual level, Value network analysis looks at the ecosystem of exchanges within the network. In a VNA, nodes are roles within the network (funder, beneficiary, community,volunteer) and the ties indicate what flows between them. Flows represent tangible goods and services (money, food, training, reports), but more importantly the intangible (recognition, reputation, tacit knowledge) benefits that come from interactions. A VNA can illustrate important gaps in reciprocity or lost opportunities for learning, and can establish a baseline for improving any of the specific flows in an overall process. For more information on VNA, download Verna Allee’s paper or peruse the Value Networks web site.

Mapping complexity with the Cynefin framework does not show flows or exchanges, but it does provide insight into the nature of relationships, processes, and events. Dave Snowden’s Cynefin framework is based on a set of distinctions about human complexity; it enables us to differentiate among four descriptive domains: the simple (well known, repeatable, subject to simple cause and effect), the complicated (knowable through the application of specific expertise), the complex (based on shifting, mutable relationships, understood in hindsight), and the chaotic (completely unknowable and inaccessible). The framework supports sense-making activities that operate on three principles: fine granularity (The collection of large quantities of information objects…), distributed cognition (…patterned by a group of people who have experience of those objects…), and disintermediation (…who can access the data and the patterns without the intervention of consultants or analysts). Dave and co-author Mary Boone have described the power of this framework in decision-making in their HBR article of November 2007.

All three mapping tools can be used in the foreground or the background. In the foreground, they are organizational interventions that bring people from across group boundaries into a sensemaking environment where they can generate shared understanding and move into action. In the background, I often use them for myself or with a small group in a client’s workspace to highlight a problem or opportunity area, or just to help the mindshift needed for net work.

Recounting:

• Three network tools
• Two network sources
• One network lens