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Features

Published April 2009

Leveraging Human Networks to Accelerate Learning

  

  Maya Townsend

To make the most of their learning initiatives, CLOs must understand the power of informal workplace networks and know how to leverage them to drive organizational change.

The executive team of a small, community-based West Coast hospital received a major wake-up call a year ago. After a string of big wins — instituting best practices, winning external recognition for clinical quality and earning significant profits — executives learned they had made a strategic misstep that threatened the very existence of the hospital.

They needed to correct the error. More importantly, they needed to figure out how the misstep occurred and learn how to prevent similar strategic errors in the future. “What they missed was that they weren’t sharing information or learning together about what the business demanded,” said consultant Dr. Sarah Fisk.

To help the group see why it made the strategic misstep, Fisk conducted a network analysis that showed how information flowed between executives. The resulting map confirmed what Fisk suspected: Team members were operating as individuals and refraining from collaborating on the issues that mattered. With that information in front of them, the team was able to see the hidden patterns in its interactions and change its behavior.

This story is just one example of how hidden human networks influence organizational strategy, decision making and innovation without people even being aware of them. Today, more CLOs are turning to networks to help accelerate learning and change in the organization.

Where Learning Happens
“Networks are where learning happens,” said Patti Anklam, author of Net Work. Anklam explained that employees instinctively create networks of informal relationships to get things done. They learn who can solve a problem, provide expertise on a certain product line, brainstorm new ideas, fix broken processes and give excellent career advice.

For years, networks have been the open secret. People have known that the grapevine spreads gossip, conversations on the golf course help people advance and the old boys’ network makes things happen. In recent years, technology forced these networks out into the open.

Social networking tools such as LinkedIn and Facebook now allow people to compile and tap into their networks consciously. While these tools can be helpful for recruiting, finding expertise and building connections on virtual teams, they’re just the beginning of what networks can do for organizations.

Networks have certain qualities and attributes that benefit the CLOs who know how to access them. Networks diffuse information so quickly that people can receive messages long before they arrive through formal channels.

Anklam tells the story about a time in which she needed to connect with someone she knew had sworn off e-mail. Uncertain about how to get in touch with him, Anklam sent a Twitter message. Within 10 minutes, she had received several suggestions on how to get in touch with the person, including one from the person himself. Her network mobilized quicker than she had anticipated to get her message to the target.