Practicing what we preach: Network Visualization.
Early in forming the ricketybridge open innovation network, our core mission group adopted the principle that we must live out what we assert. A bedrock shift in reimagining leadership is the mindset and relational shift toward ecologically inspired organic dense networks as the fundamental organizing principle of the 21st-century Church expression. This is explored more deeply in the Network Power post. We are reclaiming reality.
Embracing innovation within our nascent network, we have adopted the data collection and network visualization tool sumApp, as detailed in chapter 17 of Leading with Diligence.
If leadership shifts are the new wine, this tool is the new wineskin. Thanks to the practical application of the sumApp tool, we are actively learning what it feels like to transition from theory to practice in the Church leadership sphere.
We decided to use and publish our initial ricketybridge innovation network map as a signal that we are doing something unique in the church leadership space. So, we set out to experiment with what it would look like.
Our desire to advance organic dense networks in the Church leadership sphere received a quick boost with the addition of a collaborator. Amy Moritz’s volunteering of her technical skills and coaching in setting up our sumApp instance has reinforced our belief in the organic growth of these networks. Having worked in the network power space with Church leaders for over ten years, she is thrilled to find others who share the vision.
We set up our initial data collection and visualization, starting with a template used by other change networks and modifying it for our unique application. Seeing that our core group could use the tool immediately without training was gratifying— a good first step.
And then it happened.
As a map exists to help us navigate reality, we realize our initial network map does not accomplish that. We replicated the template as a starting point, and the information is interesting (sectors we work in, where we live, skills and gifts we can offer, area of interest, etc.). As we reflected on it, we realized this information differs from why we connected and collaborated in this work. It does not capture reality, even though the facts are accurate.
We realized we were part of the network because of our story and the sense of call that emerged. We are on a joint mission with a sense of purpose. And it is our experiences that took us to this place and time. The call is not theoretical or an intellectual proposition from detached and rigorous study. It emerged from real-world trial and error, from the crucible of leading change in a system. The work that makes us equally humbled by and inspired to do more of the same. To realize we need others.
So, how do we capture that on the network map so that others can share their stories and calls and find others based on their stories and calls? Reflecting on Network Power, we learn we are starting with solidarity to our shared cause of reforming Church Leadership in North America. From that, a dense network will emerge as we nurture sociability on that foundation.
We started the conversation on July 3, 2024, about changing the map to reflect this new direction. We are publishing it just as it is for the curious. It will be rough and ever-changing but eventually emerge as a helpful tool. And we are publishing it as an invitation for the ‘called’ to join in.
