Recommended by Knowledge Ecology Fair crew

We've compiled a list of books that we think you'll find useful. For your reading enjoyment we selected the very best books in this category.

Communities of Practice : Learning, Meaning and Identity (Learning in Doing: Social, Cognitive and Computational Perspectives), by Etienne Wenger A wonderful book that uses communities of practice as the entry-point to think about learning along several rich dimensions (e.g., meaning in relation to participation and artifacts, the relationship between identity and learning) Definitely worth a slow, reflective reading. Provides a lot of context for thinking about organizational learning. Amazon.com's price: $49.95

The Community of the Future, by Frances Hesselbein, Marshall Goldsmith (Editors) Twenty-four original essays from a diverse and noteworthy collection of authors consider trends shaping the evolution of community, the values of community, the impact of communications creating communities within organizations, strengthening the social fabric, and the global dimensions of community. Among them, Stephen Covey describes "The Ideal Community" and Howard Rheingold contemplates "Virtual Communities." Amazon.com's price: $17.50

Discovering Common Ground : How Future Search Conferences Bring People Together to Achieve Breakthrough Innovation, Empowerment, Shared Vision, and Collaborative Action, by Marvin R. Weisbord This book brings together cases from around the world on a breakthrough approach to strategic planning, empowerment, consensus building, and whole systems improvement. Hundreds of organization and interest groups in business, government, and the nonprofit sector have used this approach to create shared vision, innovation, commitment, and collaborative action that exceed what people thought possible. Includes contributions by 35 international authors. Amazon.com's price: $23.16

The Distributed Mind : Achieving High Performance Through the Collective Intelligence of Knowledge Work Teams, by Kimball Fisher, Maureen Duncan Fisher, Mareen Duncan Fisher Book Description : For the first time in history, more employees work with their minds than with their muscles. Their value lies in their mental abilities and their knowledge. Collectively, they are the "mind" of the company -- a mind spread across many individual brains. The authors of this breakthrough book call it "the distributed mind." The distributed mind is a powerful force, for if two heads are better than one, imagine how much better 20 heads are -- if it is possible to manage them all! That's the fascinating subject of this book: how progressive companies are creating teams of "knowledge workers" and coordinating their individual efforts into a web of high performance. Amazon.com's price: $19.57

Groupware: Collaborative Strategies for Corporate Lans and Intranets by David Coleman This is one of the few practical and knowledgable books about groupware and collaboration that doesn't loose the reader in details about the technology. It gives readers a top notch education about all these group applications that are supposed to help us be more productive. Since so many of them are showing up in Netscape, Microsoft and other main-line business applications, it's great to have an easy-to-use and really right-on tool. There's just a lot of information in there, but the chapters are very well organized and focused. Amazon.com's price: $58.00

Net Gain : Expanding Markets Through Virtual Communities, by John Hagel, Arthur Armstrong "Net Gain" is the first book to identify where the next level of value lies on the Internet. Hagel and Armstrong lay out the first economic model quantifying the revenue potential and the investment required to build a successful virtual community. Building relationships with customers has been a buzz phrase in many business circles for years. Now John Hagel and Arthur Armstrong declare that's not enough. They make a strong case that business success in the very near future will depend on using the Internet to build not just relationships, but communities. The payoff, they maintain, will be phenomenal customer loyalty and high profits. But, they warn, this race will definitely go to the swift. Here's a cyberspace book that could make your business future. Not everyone agrees with Hagel and Armstrong, but with stakes so high they deserves a serious reading. Amazon.com's price: $17.47

No More Teams! : Mastering the Dynamics of Creative Collaboration, by Michael Schrage By effectively using technological tools available in most workplaces, No More Teams! shows readers how to go beyond the lazy cliches of "teamwork" to the practical benefits of collaboration. No More Teams! goes beyond the faddish cliches of teams to explain how creative relationships really work. It sweeps away the pop mythology of teamwork to offer practical tools and techniques for tapping the interpersonal power of collaboration. Creative collaboration - not the politicized realities of teams - is the essential relationship for generating effective innovation and ideas in organizations. Amazon.com's price: $11.96

The Search Conference : A Powerful Method for Planning Organizational Change and Community Action, by Merrelyn Emery, Ronald E. Purser The Search Conference is not just another management tool, but a participative approach to planned change that engages the collective learning and creativity of large groups, inspiring people to find common ground around new strategies, future directions, and joint actions. The process combines the best practices associated with strategic planning, systems thinking, and effective group communications - enabling participants to take part fully, rise above self-interest, and make decisions for the common good. Written by Search Conference pioneer Merrelyn Emery and Ronald Purser, this book uses a wealth of illustrative examples from a wide variety of nonprofit, business, and public organizations that attest to the versatility of this important organization development intervention. Amazon.com's price: $29.95

The Teamnet Factor : Bringing the Power of Boundary Crossing into the Heart of Your Business, by Jessica Lipnack, Jeffrey Stamps TeamNets are tomorrow's answer, here today, to the organizational quagmire of succeeding with fewer resources, less people and intense competition. Demonstrates how to create sustainable competitive advantage while generating boundary-crossing relationships with other companies, competitors, suppliers, customers, regional business networks and international partners. Provides practical, proven insights on how to get a quick start with TeamNets, the best methods to select TeamNet partners, effectively use the TeamNet toolbox and sustain successful TeamNets over time. Amazon.com's price: $20.97

Virtual Teams : Reaching Across Space, Time, and Organizations With Technology, by Jessica Lipnack, Jeffrey Stamps Teams have become an increasingly important part of business success. The creation of virtual teams with members geographically scattered but electronically connected has set many companies on fire. Yet for all their power and flexibility, virtual teams face greater obstacles than traditional teams do. Organizational networking experts Jessica Lipnack and Jeffrey Stamps provide the keys to successful virtual teams, showing how to harness their potential while avoiding their many potential pitfalls. The many case studies offered are particularly enlightening as the authors demonstrate the techniques, mechanics, and communications required to build the virtual teams that supercharge an enterprise. Amazon.com's price: $19.60

Other titles

Business Without Bosses : How Self-Managing Teams Are Building High-Performing Companies, by Charles C. Manz, Henry P., Jr. Sims

Crossing Boundaries : Collaboration, Coordination, and the Redefinition of Resources, bySeymour B. Sarason, Elizabeth M. Lorentz

Organizing Genius : The Secrets of Creative Collaboration, by Warren Bennis, Patricia Ward Biederman

Tools for Virtual Teams : A Team Fitness Companion, by Meg Hartzler, Jane E., Phd Henry

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