Friday, July 06, 2012

Network Beavers

Beavers are keystone species in ecosystems because they create species-rich ponds, water purification, and conservation flood plains and flood management. By creating the pooling of ecological assets, relationships and energy, they provide a unique niche of value to the thrivancy of living systems. Using this metaphor, we can add the idea of network beavers to network weavers as key to network building. Network weavers connect people in new collaborations. Network beavers create gatherings that pool network assets, relationships, and energy in a space of dynamic and complex adaptive interaction. These can be formal and informal, very small to large scale gatherings. In many cases, they feature the sharing of ideas and collaboration, resources, celebration, and learning. Just bringing a variety of people together with their variety of assets, aspirations and affiliations creates rich dynamic poolings of possibilities. New conversations converge existing idea flows into new swirlings of connection and rich flood plains of possibilities. The work of network beaver is simply to create the space and the invitations. There is nothing more or less involved. As a result the network ecosystem grows and thrives.

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