Creating Dynamic Network Organizations: Principles and Practices for Co-Evolutionary Leadership

with Thomas J. Hurley

How are we called to lead in the complex, dynamic, and distributed organizations and communities arising today? What qualities and capacities do leaders need to help liberate the collective potential in "chaordic" systems? What are the conditions that foster emergence of greater collective wisdom, creativity, or capacity in groups committed to transformative change?

These are the questions we will explore in this module. Drawing on examples from business, the nonprofit world, social entrepreneurship, community development, and multi-sector networks, we will explore the practical challenges and opportunities faced by leaders in networked, emergent systems. These include articulating clear, compelling purposes; developing core principles and infusing them at all levels of the network; designing "architectures of participation" that invite engagement and enable creative self-organization; fostering connections that support the emergence of higher-level capacities; and facilitating the types of guidance and governance that can nurture "coherence without control" at all levels of system. We will also explore what we are learning about how such organizations and communities form, grow, nourish, and renew themselves, and strategies that enable graceful transitions from one stage of development to another.

Our approach will be experiential, appreciative, and inquiry-oriented, with a focus on four fields of inquiry, learning, and action in which leaders must be fluent. These include:

• The inner field, the ground from which authentic leadership springs, where our emphasis will be on cultivating essential qualities of presence and discerning inner guidance.
• The relational field, where capacities for deep listening, dialogue, and nonviolent communication enable effective collaboration and co-creativity.
• The collective field, in which practices (such as the World Café) that foster collective intelligence and collective wisdom come into play.
• The systemic field, where our ability to sense or see the larger ecosystem of which our organization or community is one part becomes important.

As leaders of emergent networks today, we are increasingly called to be fluent in each of these fields. Our collaborative learning journey in this module will nourish each of us personally and grow our capacity to ensure the organizations and communities we serve contribute most powerfully to creating positive futures.

Printable (PDF) module description

Tom Hurley is currently guiding the global evolution of the World Café and serves as a senior advisor and executive coach for leaders seeking innovative approaches to key strategic issues and large scale systems change. He was co-founder of the Chaordic Commons, a nonprofit consulting organization in which he partnered with VISA founder Dee Hock, and served for seventeen years with the Institute of Noetic Sciences as a member of the senior management team that guided the Institute's growth into a leading global organization on expanded human capacities and positive futures. He serves on the board of directors for both the World Café Community Foundation and the Berkana Institute.

Summer Institute Modules

Action Inquiry with Bill Torbert
The Art of Hosting and Harvesting with Chris Corrigan, Toke Møller & Monica Nissén
Creating Dynamic Network Organizations with Tom Hurley
Embodied Leadership with Wendy Palmer
Integral Development with Sarita Chawla & James Flaherty
Leader as Artist with Barbara Bash, Lanny Harrison, & Arawana Hayashi
Organizational Trust with Ruben Perczek & Susan Skjei
Practicing Fearlessness in Times of Fear with Jerry Granelli, Chris Grant, & Margaret Wheatley
Shifting the Money Paradigm with Victoria Castle & Bernard Lietaer
Solving Tough Problems in Practice with LeAnne Grillo, Adam Kahane & Bob Wing