CommunityofPractice

Community of Practice    (3M)

• The term "Community of Practice" was coined by John Seely Brown of the Xerox PARC (Palo Alto Research Center) back in the 1980s. (see "The People Are The Company" article; in particular, read section under "Communities of Practice Emerge")    (3N)

• Some definitions of Communities of Practice (CoP's):    (ABL)
• a group of professionals, informally bound to one another through exposure to a common class of problems, common pursuit of solutions, and thereby themselves embodying a store of knowledge." (--Peter & Trudy Johnson-Lenz / ref: http://www.co-i-l.com/coil/knowledge-garden/cop/definitions.shtml    (ABO)
• small group of people who've worked together over a period of time. Not a team, not a task force, not necessarily an authorized or identified group. They are peers in the execution of "real work." What holds them together is a common sense of purpose and a real need to know what each other knows. (--John Seely Brown / ref: http://www.fastcompany.com/online/01/people.html)    (ABM)
• groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and who interact regularly to learn how to do it better (--Etienne Wenger / ref: http://www.ewenger.com/theory/index.htm)    (ABN)

• Recommended reading from George Pór's Community Intelligence Lab site.    (3O)