What power do communities of practice have?

“There is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about.” — Margaret J. Wheatley

After researching about communities of practice I came across the above quote and thought about the communities and groups I was a part of and the influence they have had on me.

I am an active member of many Facebook groups. I find solace in finding people online with similar passions and interests and really enjoy sharing my thoughts and listening to what others have to say on similar matters. I have come to realise that no matter how obscure, bizarre or left of field your interest may be, there will always be others who share in your interest too.

When I read the quote from Margaret Wheatley I instantly thought of the ‘Zero-Waste’ groups that I have joined. In these groups I have found people with such passion for living a zero-waste lifestyle and have seen the impact that a small group of people can make. These communities have banded together to make a stand for something they really believe in, I have seen groups put together campaigns to raise awareness to Coles about their ‘Stickeez” or ‘Mini Shop’ and when Coles backflipped on their plastic bag ban.

These communities of practice have so much power when groups of individuals work towards a common goal.

Communities of practice are a type of informal learning and are individuals attempting to educate themselves and others. In these groups you may find individuals asking for solutions to issues, or you may find individuals offering up advice and information they have just learnt. The incredible thing about these communities is the wealth of knowledge that is provided by each individual sharing their experiences, when comparing this to the one or two conversations you might have with your friend about an interest, the group input is invaluable.

This then had me thinking, if I could see the impact in my own communities of practice, what impact had other communities of practices had? I found an article on Medium which explored the idea of combining a global movement event (Women’s World Cup) with the Family Planning 2020 campaign to raise awareness of contraceptive information and services. This is a great example of a community of practice utilising their knowledge and skills to come together and make an impact on world-wide issue.

After further research, it became clear that many worldwide companies utilise communities of practice in order to share knowledge and learnings. These studies found that when like-minded individuals came together and collaborated, it strengthened their strategic objectives and led to a stronger organisational performance (Zboralski & Gemuenden)

The power of a community of practice is not something to be ignored, evidently when a group of individuals come together with a wealth of knowledge, the impact can be astronomical. So, I encourage you to reach out to people with similar interests, whether it be through Facebook or through a local community centre and see the impact that you can have.