The current issue of The Learning Organization, published by Emerald Insight contains an article that I have co-written with Rob Cross and Vic Gulas of MHW Global on Vic’s work with organizational network analysis at MWH.

This article is part of my ongoing contribution to the research in ONA and organizational change for the Network Roundtable at the University of Virginia (directed by Rob).

I’m current in process of writing another case study on an ONA project with another of the Roundtable member companies. I love doing this writing as it connects me with people doing real, earnest, useful work in organizations and helps me to understand how ONA plays out as a tool in organizational change. But it’s not just organizational change, it’s about knowledge, and how the tools of knowledge management and organizational design together provide a framework and a set of methods for changing the connectivity of organizations.

Also in this issue is an article by my Cynefin colleague, Dave Snowden. He writes about the network component of Cynefin which is in some ways antithetical to the “mechanistic” approach of the traditional survey-based ONA. But all methods have their place, and when used appropriately offer great insight into the complexity of relationships, on which all work is based.