I just returned (from the SLA conference in Baltimore), catching up from a great symposium on collaborative networks at Bentley College sponsored by the college and Rhythm of Business, from two weeks vacation (at the beach, escaping the torrents of rain in New England for a while), from the getting started and pulling it together work of writing my book, Net Work (to be published by Elsevier Butterworth Heinemann).

Although my talk was about social networks and ONA, I decided that it was a good opportunity to begin to start to put ONA in the context of the theme of Net Work: which is: now that we understand that networks matter, social capital is essential to success in business, and we can analyze the underlying structure of networks, the new work of leadership consists of learning how to create and sustain dynamic networks.

Writing is the best way for me to develop ideas and to see how topics start to fit together. Just as when I go out to work in the garden, I am not always sure what I will actually complete in a day or what new ideas will emerge and find a place to grow. Sometimes I just go out to weed, and as I weed I find perennials that are not doing well where they are, so I dig them up and move them to another flower bed. While I’m shifting and digging for a space for them there, I notice that it’s time to dig up the tulip bulbs that are dying back and make room for something in flower. Then I remember that I just bought some Pinks on impulse while I was at the garden center buying plants for a few large containers. Perfect. So I go out back and get the Pinks, where I notice that I didn’t plant all the container plants. I grab those and think about where I can just nestle them into place in the box next to the deck. While I’m there, my eyes fall on the Japanese Maple next to the little waterfall pond, and I make a mental note to trim the leaves that are brusing against the ground. Where was I? Oh, that’s right, putting in the Pinks next to the Russian Sage I just moved from the shade border to the sunny garden. And I’ll just dig pull out a few weeds on my way.

People ask how the writing is going. That’s how it’s going. And when company comes on Sunday, the garden will be ready. When the deadline comes, the book will be ready.

Oh, where was I? I was about to blog about how putting a bunch of new ideas into an established suite of slides on ONA helped me understand the following core elements of the leader’s Net Work:

(1) Attend to networks in the organization
(2) Network the organization
(3) Manage your personal network
(4) Building network-able staff

The presentation is posted at http://www.byeday.net/downloads.htm

Conference bloggers are encouraging me: Christina Pikas, on her own blog and the SLA conference blog, and Donald Hawkins, on the Information Today blog. My schedule didn’t allow for me to attend the conference, but these blogs tell me that I missed a lot.