Civic Leadership in 2011: It’s All About the Networks

Leadership White County February 16, 20101 – Monticello, Indiana

Scott Hutcheson, Assistant Program LeaderEconomic & Community Development

Purdue Extension

Our Grandparent’s Generation

It Worked: Wealth was built at a rate the world had never before

experienced

First Curve – Our Grandparents thought, lived, & worked within hierarchies.

The S Curve Caught Up with Our Grandparent’s Generation

Source: Ed Morrison, Distributed under a Creative Commons 3.0 license.

The First and Second Curves

Source: Ed Morrison, Distributed under a Creative Commons 3.0 license.

Second Curve: Vitality occurs within networks

First Curve: Vitality occurred within hierarchies

We Do Our Work Differently

Marc Davis Worked for Disney for 43 years

Cleve Nettles Works for Nobody (and Everybody)

Products Get Developed Differently

We Communicate with Our Friends & Family Differently

The World is Moving Away from Hierarchies

Our Grandchildren Will Live Completely in This 2nd Curve

Second Curve – They will think, live, and work within networks.

The job of our generation is to manage the transition between our grandparent’s

generation and our grandchildren’s generation.

Source: Ed Morrison, Distributed under a Creative Commons 3.0 license.

Second Curve: Vitality driven by networked organizational models

First Curve: Vitality driven by vertical organizational models

Business are adopting network business models.

Those that can’t or won’t, have or soon will, go away.

What about communities?Those that can’t or won’t, have or soon will, go Those that can’t or won’t, have or soon will, go

awayaway.

How Do Communities Do Their Work?Townships

Counties

Cities/Towns

FedsState

K-12Higher Ed

Workforce

Social Service

Chambers

Economic Dev.

Philanthropy

How Do We Manage the Transition in Our Communities?

By Linking and Leveraging

Source: Ed Morrison, Distributed under a Creative Commons 3.0 license.

Civic Leadership in 2011

Requires: • Thinking Differently• Behaving Differently• Working Differently

Types of Community Issues

From Heifetz, R. (1998). Leadership without Easy Answers. Belknap Press.

Types of Community Issues

Not All Issues Are Complex But Many Are

What complex issues are you facing in your community?What complex issues are you facing in your community?

Who is “in charge” of these complex issues?Who is “in charge” of these complex issues?

Addressing Complex Civic Issues Requires Networked Models of

Leadership• No single person,

organization, or institution has all the answers

• No one is in charge• Mass participation AND

strong leadership is needed

Source: Ed Morrison, Distributed under a Creative Commons 3.0 license.

Social Network Theory Can Give Us Some Insights

Social Anthologist J.A. Barnes coined the term in his 1954, Class and Committees in a Norwegian Island Parrish.

Social Network TheorySocial network theory views social

relationships in terms of nodes and links. Nodes are the individual actors within the networks, and links are the relationships

between the actors

Six Degrees of Separation

Almost everyone has a “small world” story.

What’s yours?

Social Network Theory Applications

• Sociology• Anthropology• Information Technology• Organizational Development• Community and Economic Development

Building Community by Building Networks

Assumptions• Communities are built on connections.• Better connections usually mean better

opportunities.

Building Community by Building Networks

Questions• How do we build connected

communities that can take advantage of opportunities?

• How does success emerge from complex interactions?

Two Components of a Network

NodesPeople, groups, or organizations

LinksRelationships,

flows, or transactions

What’s the Value of ONE Cell Phone?

What’s the Value of TEN Cell Phones?

What’s the “value” of the people in this room today when we each bring our own networks that can be linked and leveraged?

Network Building Exercise• Exchange business

cards with someone you do not know well

• Find one thing you have in common

• Decide on a follow-up activity– phone call– information exchange– introduction to third party

ACEnet Case Study

How civic networks are transforming the economy of Appalachian Ohio

Scattered Fragments

ACEnet: Scattered FragmentsBegan weaving the network by asking questions:

• From whom do you get new ideas that benefit your work?

• From whom do you access expertise that improves your operations?

• With whom do you collaborate?

ACEnet: Creating New Hubs

Kitchen Incubator became a hub for restaurateurs and farmers

Hub and Spokes

ACEnet: Multi-Hub

• Farmers Market• Outdoor Café• Restaurant

Association

Multi-Hub

ACEnet: Action at the PeripheryDeveloped the Appalachian Ohio Regional Investment Coalition to bring in additional resources.

Core/Periphery Network

Core/Periphery Network• Core includes the key community members• Periphery includes three groups of nodes

usually tied to the core with looser ties:– Those new to the community working their way to

the core– Bridges to diverse communities elsewhere– Unique resources that reside outside the

community

Civic Network Exercise1. Consider a network you are part of. Which of the four phases do you

think it is in and why? The phases are (1) Scattered Fragments, (2) Single-Hub and Spoke, (3) Multi-Hub Small World, and (4) Core-Periphery.

• Scattered Fragments• Single Hub-and-Spoke• Multi-Hub • Core-Periphery

2. What steps could be taken to take this network to the next phase. Even if the one you identified is a Stage 4: Core-Periphery Network, what could you do to expand the periphery?

3. Using the network identified above as an example or another in which you are or have been a Network Weaver, how could you transition to a Network Facilitator?

Effective Civic Leaders Are Network Weavers

Network “weaving” is not just networking or schmoozing!

Seven Levels of Seven Levels of Network WeavingNetwork Weaving

1. Introducing A and B in person and offering a collaboration opportunity to get A and B started in a successful partnership.

2. Introducing A and B in person and contacting A and B afterward to nurture the connection.

3. Introducing A and B in person.4. Doing a conference call introduction of A and B5. Doing an email introduction of A and B6. Suggesting to A that A should talk with B and then contacting B to

let B know to expect a call from A7. Suggesting to A that A should talk with B

Effective Civic Leaders More from Weavers to Facilitators

• A facilitator identifies new weavers who will eventually take over most of the network building and maintenance.

• If the change is not made, the network remains dependent on the central weaver and his/her organization.

• This transition is needed for the network to increase its scale, impact and reach.

The Network Leader

NEW NETWORK LEADER ROLE RESPONSIBILITIES

Convener Maintains the civic spaces

Connector Links people, networks and assets

Civic Entrepreneur Sees new opportunities

Guide Maps a complex process

Strategist Reveals larger patterns

Knowledge Keeper Distills face-to-face conversations into key points and patterns

Web 2.0 Maven Applies Web 2.0 power tools

Civic Network Continuum

TurfTurf

TrustTrust

TIMETIME

SharingResources

Sharing Information

MutualAwareness

Co-Execution

Co-Creation

Acknowledging Exploring Cooperating Collaborating Innovating

You have to walk before you runAdapted from Collaboration Continuum from ACT for Youth

ContactScott HutchesonPurdue University

Purdue Extension Economic & Community DevelopmentPurdue Center for Regional Development

1201 West State Street, #227West Lafayette, Indiana 47907-2057

(765) 494-7273hutcheson@purdue.edu

facebook.com/scott.hutchesonwww.twitter.com/jshutch64