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