Cultivating Communities of Practice: A Guide to Managing Knowledge

CHAPTER three

Seven Principles for Cultivating Communities of Practice

IN SILICON VALLEY, A COMMUNITY OF CIRCUIT designers meets for a lively debate about the merits of two different designs developed by one of the participants. Huddling together over the circuit diagrams, they analyze possible faults, discuss issues of efficiency, propose alternatives, tease out each other’s assumptions, and make the case for their view. In Boston, a group of social workers who staff a help line meet to discuss knotty client problems, express sympathy as they discuss difficulties, probe to understand each other’s feelings, and gently offer suggestions. Their meetings are often deeply challenging and sometimes highly emotional.

The fact-driven, sometimes argumentative, ...