Communication · Executive Insight Brief · 316
Proximity is not participation
Communities of Practice reveal whether people are gaining situated judgment through consequential participation or merely standing near the work
Premise
Organizations often treat knowledge as something that can be captured, stored, and distributed. Communities of Practice change the unit of analysis. Competence develops through participation in a shared practice: watching experienced members, attempting real work, using its language and artifacts, receiving correction, and gradually carrying more consequential responsibility.
That distinction matters for executives because access to a repository is not access to a practice. The operating question is whether newcomers can enter the conversations, cases, judgments, and responsibilities through which experienced members learn what the formal procedure cannot fully specify.
What the model is: Communities of Practice in Knowledge →
Continue in the series
- The essential model
- Why this matters
- Risks and limits
- Executive takeaway
- Key questions
- Selected sources
The full brief is part of the complete collection of Executive Insight Briefs.
Or start with a brief you can read in full →
New works are announced in The Debrief. Subscribe →
- FamilyModel
- CategoryTheories & Explanatory Models
- DomainOrganization & Structure
What these mean
Editorial orientation · Family
Model
In this series, Model names the editorial family primarily used to understand and explain communication: theories, frameworks, effects, traditions, principles and other conceptual resources. It is an umbrella for a route into the field, not a claim that every included object is a predictive model.
Editorial orientation · Category
Theories & Explanatory Models
Explains how or why a communication process works by relating mechanisms, conditions or variables. Its value is an account that can guide inquiry into what produces an outcome, rather than a name for the outcome alone.
- KnowledgeCommunities of Practice