Comments on: Community of Practice Handbook – Company Command

By: Harold Jarche » It’s about work, not learning

Harold Jarche » It’s about work, not learning — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 12:22:56 +0000

[...] SkillSoft says they realize that learning has become more social and the interest in peer learning has increased. This is the right decision, within the constraints of SkillSoft’s technology platform and current business model. We can’t expect incumbents to just cast away their cash cows. The question is whether it is enough to give a significant organizational performance advantage. The model of having conversations around social objects, such as books, can work well in an organization that values and encourages reading and discussions. This model worked in the past with Company Command. [...]

By: Harold Jarche » Communities of Practice

Harold Jarche » Communities of Practice — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 13:32:13 +0000

[...] year I used the Company Command model for a community of practice prototype. The advice on who to get involved in building it was [...]

By: Harold Jarche

Harold Jarche — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 22:08:27 +0000

Thanks for the clarification, Pete, though some might say that US was at war in 2000, just not in Iraq. Nice to know that the chain of command was supportive.

By: Pete Kilner

Pete Kilner — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 21:22:17 +0000

I have to take issue with you on this one, Harold. The CompanyCommand forum (at the time, companycommand.com) was founded in early 2000, a good 18 months before the start of the war.

The Army was supportive (in the sense of not interfering and allowing us to use our work computers, etc) from the start.

By: Harold

Harold — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 02:59:14 +0000

Knowledge-sharing happened in the US military because they were at war. This would not have developed in peacetime. The company commanders realised that they had to find a way around the bureaucracy because their lives and their troops were at risk. It’s amazing how a life-threatening situation can help you focus on what’s really important.

Yes, the military has a chain of command, but it’s frequently disrupted during times of conflict. For example, in Normandy, the Canadian Army was replacing battalion commanders on an almost daily basis, until they finally got effective leadership.

Organisations may change to less command & control because they have no choice today, but those in control will go kicking and screaming, and it will take the equivalent of a war to force the issue.

By: Dave Ferguson

Dave Ferguson — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 17:08:51 +0000

One striking aspect is that this community of practice emerged in the organizational archetype for command and control.

Which seems to be a strong counter to arguments about the feasibility of knowledge-sharing networks in pretty much any organization.

By: Harold

Harold — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 14:33:08 +0000

Thanks, Pete, and thanks for sharing so much in your book.

By: Pete Kilner

Pete Kilner — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 11:57:19 +0000

The CompanyCommand professional forum was straight HTML from 2000-2003, except for the discussion thread that used open-source code.

In May, 2003, CC moved onto Tomoye Simplify, and in 2007 migrated to Tomoye Ecco. The images and examples in the Unleashing book show the forum as it was in 2004 (Simplify), although the principles of CoP support are independent of platform.

I’m glad that you find the book helpful. Best of luck in all you do.

By: Harold

Harold — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 15:34:55 +0000

It’s on Tomoye (Ecco) now, but it may have been on Drupal initially. I would imagine that the original volunteer-only site was on an open source platform, but it’s now hosted and supported by the US Army.

By: Stephen Downes

Stephen Downes — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 15:30:11 +0000

Hm… I thought Company Command was on a Drupal platform… was I wrong about this…?