CLP Network

2010-07-09 at 12:27:06

Rarely does it happen, but I love it when promises are delivered on and you get more than you bargained for.  I attended the Networks session yesterday, which was billed as ‘A mix of dynamic presentations from CLP leadership networks and Meeting the Challenge partnerships and interactive discussions to investigate what makes leadership learning networks work.’  The session did what it said on the tin and more….

Expertly delivered, which belied the extensive thought and preparation taken in it’s crafting, I was able to dabble in chaos theory and throw a dice, contribute, relfect and walk away with a giant purple crayon (as well as plant seeds – thank you Hilary J).  It was destined to be a hit with me.

Ultimately, the session provided nuanced insights around the key headings of ‘Purpose, People, Process, Content, Resources and Evaluation’ from individuals who had or were running leadership networks or who had participated in them.  Again the diversity of the group made the ‘wisdom in the room’ incredibly powerful, insightful, illuminating and dynamic.  Also, the fact that our discussions were punctuated with raucous laughter made the two hour session fly by. 

I found three areas of the discussion and investigation beneficial to my thinking;

-         Evaluation.  How an integrated evaluation methodology is not only a way to measure the successes or failures of a network, if used creatively, it is also a reflective tool and an effective feedback loop to support any real time changes made to a network’s purpose, process or content.  Also, ideas on the why, what, when and how of evaluation and the ingenious use of technology (flip cameras, blogs, basecamp, learning clouds etc) can take a dry process and make it immediate, effective and creative!

-         Network performance.  How you manage the challenges faced when you bring together different ‘mindsets’ and leadership challenges of individuals and partners from the public sector and commercial enterprises.  It reminded me of a comment made by one of the leaders at the CLP launch on Wednesday evening, 'partnerships are like marriages they need lots of work'.  And bringing together of individuals in any form of network requires the ability to 'hold the space' in terms of time, communication and resources.  Also, how it is imperative that the benefits to the individual participating in network are relayed and/or felt by their business or organisation as a clear demonstration of ROI to support on-going sustainability and legacy work.

-         Holding the uncertainly.  The point was made that much of the work of individuals in the creative and cultural industries is the management of an ‘uncertain’ creative process in direct contradiction to the certainty of outcome required by senior management and stakeholders.  It was suggested that a leadership learning network can be a place where the individual can bring, explore and play with that uncertainly – an idea I love, which is funny as traditionally I'm the one in any group who always wants certainty!

I made a new contacts, shared insights I didn’t know I had, was challenged, learnt more than I expected and left the session energised. 

Top marks!