There has always been power in numbers, right? Yet I continue to be amazed by this notion of collaborative outcomes buzz. This warm glow is shining bright for citizens of the world – we are having our moment. We are connecting through social spaces, engaging in meaningful projects, initiatives and other community work. I’m forever grateful to those who have paved the way.
It really does take one seed, from one individual tossed in the air can that can nurture and start new possibilities. It can ignite a team collaboration, foster culture change or even societal transformation. Yes indeed – we are in the ripe era of harnessing the power of our collective network potential. It is bursting with flavor like a Mango groove in season. Which is why this model of Collective Ambition by Douglas A. Ready and Emily Truelove, is noteworthy to mention. I hope you find this useful within your efforts, organizations or projects to help with any sense making required for your community efforts.
The Lauren Klein 
To be added to a reading list:
Y. Rumpala, “Knowledge and praxis of networks as a political project”, 21st Century Society, Volume 4, Issue 3, November 2009.
Abstract:
Modern-day society is increasingly described as an extensive web of networks, but as such, it is often perceived and experienced as elusive. In light of this paralysing description, this paper aims to highlight the potentially political dimension of network analysis, namely as defined in the social sciences, and of the notion of networks itself. It will be shown that a political project could, in this case, be built on the desire to know this reticular world better, but also to be able to act appropriately towards it. Three steps are proposed to specify how such a political project could be built. The first step aims at deploying knowledge of networks and emphasises the usefulness of a procedure to trace them. The second step shows the possibilities that this knowledge offers, particularly in allowing one to find one’s bearings in a world which is frequently described as veering towards an increasing complexity, and by helping to rebuild the selection criteria for connections in this world, thanks to an additional degree of reflexivity. The third step draws on these points to extend them and bring out potentialities with regards to the intervention capacities in network configurations.
(also downloadable at: http://yannickrumpala.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rumpala-knowledge-and-praxis-of-networks-as-a-political-project-21st-century-society1.pdf )