Grantmakers+Gathering+on+Networks+-+Conversation+Snapshots

// Here's what they had to say: //
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 * Leadership in networks**
 * Lessons:
 * We need to move from grantmaking to problem solving
 * "Creating space for 'do-acracy' and 'stepping up!'"
 * It's important to know when to "seed" and when to "cede" the approach to the network
 * "Honor and nurture all wisdom and resources"
 * "Value reciprocity"
 * "Move from transactional to transformational"
 * "Check your ego at the door" as a basic principle for all network members, including the funder!
 * "Be transparent about how you try to lead the space"
 * "Because the network is organic, leadership should be more fluid and agile. Leadership needs to reflect the situational context."
 * On leadership:
 * Leadership is unleashing the power in the group
 * There's great value in distributed leadership
 * "Emergency response model: the first one on the scene is the leader, until a structure is set up."
 * "To lead a network is a brokering role"
 * "It starts with a 'cohort' but then evolves organically"
 * "Networks are usually dormant until someone is bleeding. Then someone steps up as a leader"
 * Principles: embody appreciation, inclusion, humility, patience, personal accountability, more egalitarian, shared purpose / common language, emergence, conscious conversation in a safe space, "balancing charisma"
 * Types of roles: facilitator, weaver, note-taker / framer, coordinator
 * "There's danger in roles being categorized as 'the leader' or 'holding the narrative'"
 * "Leaders rise up to the occasion -- they need the opportunity and certain basic skills"
 * Training infrastructure: learning by doing, ongoing conversations, storytelling, tools to be grounded in their choice making
 * Other comments:
 * Form follows function; systems don't lead function, rather function determines systems
 * If there's no conflict in process then something's off about the process
 * Questions"
 * "Who determines what the network needs? Who identifies the gaps?"
 * "Are we leading for the outcome of the network, or leading for the network to function?"
 * "Support the weavers (not the issues) and see what emerges, or fund the issue and hope a weaver emerges?"
 * "Network leaders: how do you identify leaders in your network, create a sense of shared value and trust?"
 * "Where is the 'hub' or 'home' of a network, especially when a grant has to go to some lead organization?"
 * Network weaving**
 * General / Networks:
 * It starts with energy
 * "Networks = lots of experiments and connecting them to move toward transformation"
 * "It's about relationships"
 * Weaving:
 * "Don't outsource it / it's everyone's job!
 * "Weaver doesn't equal leader"
 * "A good network weaver will ultimately weave their way out of their original charge"
 * It's important to bridge generations and silos
 * "Coordinated networks is the role of the convener; weaving networks belongs to everyone"
 * "Create intentional use of space!"
 * Backbone organizations:
 * "Is there a new type of entity emerging that captures network weaving, "meshy" multi-organizationa oriented"
 * "Backbone organization = weaving"
 * Questions:
 * "How do we make network weaving about performance, no just connections?"
 * "How to identify network weavers?"
 * "What are the power dymics when the funder is the weaver?"
 * Assessing network effectiveness**
 * Value:
 * "Relationships can be a valuable outcome… we need to invest in the 'beer & food' fund to encourage relationship building."
 * "Provide funding for network participants to generate ideas and compete for funds"
 * "Networks can be an end (shared values, trust, civic engagement) and a means to an end (toward collective action for health outcomes or legislation)."
 * Lessons:
 * "It takes time. We can't be impatient."
 * "Sometimes looseness allows for innovation."
 * "Contribution vs. attribution: Foundation work can contribute to a solution / change, where they're not solely responsible for the change! We need to get over ourselves."
 * The network is accountable to its members
 * "Targeted foundation networking: Intentionally defined goals can help determine 'who' should be involved."
 * Learning & Evaluation:
 * "Network capacity is different from organizational capacity; they need to be considered separately"
 * "We have to look for evolving insights"
 * How do you assess unintentional consequences in a network?
 * "Story + data = rich, useful asessment"
 * "It's important to reflect on what worked best / why (ABCD approach, appreciative) and to share / invest in knowledge management (e.g., 2 page case studies on an online database)."
 * "There's a sense of false precision in measurement… in marketing, you know you're wasting 50% of your dollars, you just don't know which half"
 * "How much can we learn from the past to inform future decisions? How much are we trapped by what we already know?"
 * Networks need to be evaluated on a longer time horizon
 * We need more case examples and the commitment to share and distribute them
 * "Formative evaluation - course corrective and discovery; retrospective evaluation - documentary and summative"
 * "Interim indicators are key but can feel 'processy'; you need longer time horizons to evaluate success"
 * "Long term goals in a network can be pretty clean. It's the interim indicators that are tough to define"
 * Resources:
 * "Take a look a the Wilder Collaborations survey (20 questions)"
 * See www.networkimpact.org
 * Recommend looking at Bob William's work (Evaluator in New Zealand): http://users.actrix.co.nz/bobwill/
 * Network Learning Systems**
 * Process:
 * "Thou shall share" should be included as a grant clause
 * "Capture learning in real time"
 * Learning is individual. It needs to be disseminated, e.g., through living case studies as opposed to final lessons learned, reports that are shiny & polished
 * Elicit work-emergent learning maps
 * Share the work within the organization, with colleagues, and with the movement
 * Use what you learn, e.g., through a community of practice!
 * Lessons:
 * "Learning is in the details of the practice" -Bill Traynor
 * There needs to be a balance between the groups and the editor
 * There's less interest in expert / external and more interest in informal, peer learning
 * Visualization (e.g., netowrk mapping) is needed to make sense of the data--helps to "curate knowledge and share learning in existing data"
 * There's a challenge in having a shared, common agenda… "look to the wikimedia model to learn how to do this"… it's "not the what, but how"
 * "Network practitioners need to have a community of practice of action learning"
 * "Too much structure can squash collaborative learning, which has to happen fast. We need to take time to reflect."
 * Questions:
 * "How can the network itself be the learning system?"
 * "How do people in a network become guardians of their own learning?"
 * Supporting and building relationships**
 * Relationship Building:
 * "How do we not waste time with in person and other convenings, so that relationship building is INTEGRAL to the work?"
 * "Relationship building = leadership skills.It's important to call that out."
 * "It's important to manage expectations and incentives"
 * Evaluation:
 * "Build systems of evaluation into the network, such that it's a seamless part of the experience."
 * "Can we frame relationship building as a measure of impact?"
 * "Does success = duration? Is it OK to put a time limit?"
 * Motivation:
 * "Why do people participate in networks / relationship building? Beyond sincere belief in the cause / outcome? What rewards/acknowledgments feed the fire?"
 * "How is relationship building different in virtual networks?"
 * Other:
 * "You measure trust on Amazon by peer evaluation - voting on reviews. The community decides what is valued & relevant."
 * "How do we work collectively with tension?


 * Investing in networks**
 * Lessons
 * "There needs to be simultaneous support of infrastructure, weaving, and individual network members"
 * There are two investment streams: 1) invest in "glue," e.g., meeting and travel, and 2) action / work to do
 * "Infrastructure needs are constantly changing"
 * "Consulting contracts to fund time limited network weaving"
 * "Getting the group to agree on common metrics / indicators is really hard!"
 * "Backbone organization > tendency to defer responsibility"
 * "Small, coordinated actions lead to trust"
 * "Rushing a conversation re: common goals leads to more modest goals"
 * "Common goals and values are needed for any network; common metrics are less frequent"
 * It's useful to have flexible funds for the network to allocate
 * Questions
 * "What does it mean for networks to be 'self sustaining'?"
 * "How much infrastructure is needed?"
 * "When should network infrastructure be housed within an organization--and when should it be distributed?"
 * "Organizational development should be offered to all members, collective capacity building"
 * "What is the best time to invest in a network?"
 * "How do you know what the right amount for capacity building glue is?"
 * Roles
 * "What roles could or should be a pooled funding play?"

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 * Networks and movement building**
 * Roles:
 * "Roles & position in movement building include: funders, intemediary, field-builder, leaders, facilitators"
 * "Clarifying the roles of leaders and facilitators is an ongoing challenge"
 * "Think about network officers vs. program officers"
 * "How do you facilitate something without having to build something?"
 * "How can funders affect effective movements and networks?"
 * "Funders could help 'define' the movement and provide inspiration"
 * On networks & movement building:
 * "A movement is made up of multiple networks that are loosely connected."
 * "Network roles include: coordinated action, combining resources, identifying gaps, building linkages to broaden the movement, deepening relationships, agreeing on a broader frame.
 * "How to reconcile foundation power and movement identity?"
 * "Networks are not created, they emerge"
 * Structure vs. emergence:
 * "There's a tension between what we've done and where we need to go: structure vs. emergence"
 * Lessons:
 * "Framing what you mean by 'network funding' is critical. Language matters. 'Networking' means…"
 * "Typology of networks: this smatters in terms of how best to engage / support"
 * "It's the quality of relationships that will sustain this work."
 * Questions:
 * "How to leverage and use conflict as we build / fund movements?"
 * "What's the balance between face to face organizing vs. online social media organizing? "
 * "How do you work across language and culture internationally?"
 * "What are the roles of strong and week ties?"
 * "When do networks evolve into movmenets?
 * Helping established organizations develop a network mindset**
 * "Recreting a horizontal relationship between members and communities of practice to spot and replicate good ideas; disconnecting form vertical decision-making models and preservation of current business plan"
 * "This work happens at three levels: your organizations, your grantees, and non-grantees"
 * "Connection of systems to networks: social change organizations have the unique opportunity to authentically build brand for the system / movement (this is not a commercial model)."
 * Network strategy**
 * Defining strategy:
 * "Strategy = what do networks do that's unique?"
 * "Strategy = bringing discipline and focus to networks"
 * "Networks are not an either / or with strategic framework"
 * On network strategy:
 * "There's a tension between having an overall strategic frame and letting it form organically (i.e., letting it happen)"
 * "Structure is necessary in everything we do"
 * "What is the value add of pushing toward a more integrated network?"
 * "Conditions for networks to form effective strategy: rule setting; overarching strategic framework; boundaries; being ready for the 'swarm'"
 * "A network is a platform. If it's functional, people will use it (network as an application)"
 * Leadership:
 * "Is it best to engage through few leaders or many leaders (lightly)?
 * "Are net leaders behaving as if the network is a valuable tool for them?"
 * "Networks empower resiliency and redundancy in leadership"
 * Success:
 * "How do networks define success?"
 * "The network model may not be the best strategy in every situation"
 * "How do you maintain focus when not in 'campaign mode'?"
 * Goals & motivations:
 * "It’s important to figure out the motivation, the levers (e.g., by looking at supply chain), power dynamic, etc"
 * "The goal needs to be very broad, and not ambiguous"
 * "Be intentional, even if you're going to be wrong