building healthy networks
15 Nov 2016this is sort of a jumble, but i’m running with it anyways.
a quote from resilience:
[“In a healthy network, you have to connect on your similarities and compete on your differences… INSERT REST OF QUOTE WHEN I HAVE TIME]
the two things that stand out to me right now about what’s needed are (1) what skills a network weaver needs to have and (2) what a healthy network looks like.
to the first point, network weavers must be “connectors, mediators, teachers, behavioral economists, and social engineers.” as i think about the role i’m meant to play in the upcoming resistance, these are all things i have done. the network can’t solely be made up actors who can wear all those hats, but the people who can have a unique position to hold. and if i’m being honest with myself, i think that’s what i’ll be doing.
to the second point, a healthy network has both cooperation and competition. adhocracy (worth a look up) seems like the ideal state of a resilient healthy network. essentially, it looks like many subunits acting independently in general, but that are able to align and act in concert when necessary and beneficial. part of that means that there needs to be enough information flowing between the different groups to know when to align and when to stay separate.
i can imagine that being important from data standpoint, but also communication and action. amassing too much energy (data, action, whatever) in any one place in the network makes that point in the network an easy target. this resistance will not look like the civil rights movement with a few figure heads; it will much more decentralized.
people who understand how to build networks and systems like that need to be doing it starting now.
and i guess that means me.
😬
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