News Brief: Social Change,Communication, Leadership, Collective Leadership, Collaboration, Collective Learning, Networks

•      "Social Analytics Meet Community Engagement" 
        Author:  Allison Fine                                                                    
        Date:  July 26,2010
        Source:  A. Fine Blog
        URL:  http://bit.ly/cZ51Dy 

Allison Fine looks at how all the social media activity related to social causes translates into the actual on-the-ground activity necessary for social change.  She explores the question:  “What, if anything, does all of the clicking, blogging, and “friending” add up to in the end?”.  This topic, the one of how to both translate online exchanges into offline actions and measure the results (the connection between online activity and veritable social change), engenders a discussion, which, as Fine describes is in its “infancy.” 

•      “When Your Team Reverts to the Old Strategy"
        Author:  Amy Gallo                                                                                          
        Date:  August 10, 2010
        Source:  Harvard Business Review
        URL:  http://ow.ly/2oigz
Amy Gallo examines the challenge of implementing large-scale strategic changes and keeping employees committed to their long-term execution.  She describes flaws in old models for change and provides key principles to successfully implement new strategies, including asking employees about how to remove barriers to change and pushing decision-making down (“cascade of choices”) so that each individual is actively involved in the process.  In addition, the article provides two succint case studies. 

•      “Linking Collaborative Capacity to Performance Measurement in Government—Nonprofit Partnerships"
        Author:  Beth Gazley                                                                                        
        Date:  August 2010
        Source:   Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly
        URL: http://ow.ly/2oioc
This is an abstract of a study (“Linking Collaborative Capacity to Performance Measurement in Government—Nonprofit Partnerships”), which tests “the potential influence of various partnership and organizational factors on collaborative outcomes.”  Specifically, it examines the many informal qualities and interpersonal qualities involved in these partnerships.  The study finds a strong correlation between “the intensity of shared goals and the level of investment in the partnership”and collaborative success.  

  •    "The New Weaver Network: LCW is Re-Thinking, Re-Designing Our Network Organizing Practice and Learning"
        Author:  Bill Traynor
        Date:  August 10, 2010
        Source: The Value of Place (blog)
        URL:  http://ow.ly/2ooKJ
In this blog post, Lawrence CommunityWorks discusses the shifts in their programming and in their training and collective learning approaches, allowing more flexibility, reciprocity and organic learning.  They announce that the Network Organizing Forum has a new name - The Weaver Network - and a “fresh mission.”  They also describe PODER, “the Network’s powerful premier leadership development experience” and the PODER-sponsored workshops.  

In addition to changes in their Network Organizing Forum (NOF) Unit, they also describe changes to their Collective Action and Mobilization (CAM) Unit.  Specifically, they discuss Neighbor Circles (NCs).  Lastly, the blog post relates changes to LCW’s Memberlink Program.