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Going Virtual: Distributed Communities of Practice

Paul Hidreth's Going Virtual: Distributed Communities of Practice studies the concept of communities of practice and explores one such community that crosses international boundaries. Just the opening chapter on What is Soft Knowledge is worth the price of the book for anyone who wants to get clear on the history of the concepts involved. Because of its origin as a doctoral dissertation, the book has a fantastic bibliography. Finally, the appendix includes some methodologies on Flow Models and Sequence Models that deeply complement our work on Communication Centered Technology Planning. Posted: 3/22/05; 12:24:48 PM #

State of the World 2005

I am on a long term quest for all those methods that can bring together the progressive 90% of the nonprofit sector. Ways of framing and presenting issues so that they cross organizational boundaries is one such method. The annual State of the World book, compiled and published by the Worldwatch Institute, is a great example of this kind of work. The 2005 edition brings together such issues as peace and security, disease prevention, food systems, the oil economy and others under the single conceptual framework of sustainability. With well thought out contributions from a large range of experts, this book is a must read for any nonprofit leader who wants to connect their work to the big picture. Posted: 3/22/05; 12:16:40 PM #