The purpose of networks

I was with a client this week who was dealing with the creation of networks - in a community of practice sense. The network ideas they had looked good, yet there were a couple of missing parts which we worked on together.

First, unlike the internet (a now classic "scale free" network) which really has no intrinsic purpose, networks inside businesses are meant to achieve something - better communication, more ideas, faster action etc. So knowing what the purpose is will likely change the way the network is conceptualized.

Second, it is my belief that business networks must also focus on actionability in the way the linkages are designed between members - something new should happen, whether it is to build more learning or better results. And this will require easy searchability so members of the network can understand what others are up to, and how they can find existing knowlege in the network.