Cool Facebook Mapper

Have a look at this http://apps.facebook.com/mynet_phaseone/ ...but you have to be able to use UCINET or Netdraw to visualise.... here is mine. I left the name labels out but the clusters show my personal communities...a few orphans who I know but they don't know anyone else I know. Matches up pretty well with my own perception. What could one do with it? Well maybe I could get out a bit more and meet more strangers :)

Communities and Networks Connections

RSS feeds may help you make some sense of the blogsphere that is growing at Internet speed. You can't help but think you might just have missed something out there that might really interest you. Nancy White and Co. have created a Communities and Networks Connections site to be officially launched Ferbrary 17th 2009 as a sort of meta-site for invited blogs addressing the topic. Look for the badge, search and tags on the right side of this blog. Explore and Enjoy!

Emergency Services - the ultimate self organisers?

The tragic bush fires in Victoria, Australia is just another reminder of how powerful self organisation can be when faced with a common and compelling purpose. In the media there has been nothing but praise for the emergency services and volunteer services that have come to the aid of the unfortunate victims of this once in a lifetime natural disaster. The shear logistics of organising support services is immense. Unlike the Cyclone Katrina exerience in the USA the government appears to have played an appropriate supporting more so than directing role. The last thing you want in an emergency is a bunch of forms to fill in and a team of lobbyists in tow!

Of course what we are seeing with the emergency services is the essence of governance through networks. Its unfortunate that we often need to have a literal "burning platform" to achieve the levels of co-operation we all desire, but amazing when you see it in operation and the power of what can be achieved.

Recreating Capitalism

I've just listened to a facinating podcast by Jay Bragdon on his "Living Asset Stewardship" approach to business. On the surface it looks just like all of the other triple bottom line, living systems, intangible assets, green investment approaches that criticise the current industrial models we have and like to critique. One interesting point he makes on the failure of these business models is the size of the US recession bailout being mopre than 50% of the GDP! anyway what was most impressive is his Living Asset Management Performance (LAMP) Index of companies he sees working by living asset stewardship. If you like he is using an industrial measure to measure the performance of a non-industrial apporach ... and it looks pretty good. 10% annual growth in the current climate? Who wouldn't go for that!

Economic downturn means relationship upturns

There's nothing like a good recession to get business relationships going. As vendors get hungrier, client organisations doing more with less, those out of work looking to network to their next job, networking and partnering are definitely on the rise. Its in times like these when we all feel a little more vulnerable that we are more likely to reach out for that contact or opportunity that last year you would have let ride. In terms of client/vendor relationships the onus on negotiating an equitable value exchange has never been stronger. As Len Rust reports in his latest newsletter, the days when organisations just followed the crowd on the latest technology trend are over. Identifying true value exchange requires more than the client telling multiple vendors what they want and waiting for the competitive response. More often than not it is the process of negotiating the intangibles where most of the true value is exposed. Our experiences with Value Network Analysis and Partnership Scorecards invariably identify the intangibles being where most of the value now lies .... a veritable untapped resource waiting to be mined!

We should also thank Len Rust for his unsolicited plug for Optimice in the newsletter. Its nice to be recognised from time to time .... helps you keep going in a recession :)