Principles for Network Thinking and Action

People who hosted successful networks approached their communities with an openness and their own curiosity. They embraced experimentation and a “growth mindset.” They also took specific steps to make their communities happen in pursuit of a shared purpose.

Instead, they lean into emergence,

Impact networks provide value in many ways: they coordinate work among different actors and across organizations and silos without being controlling or directive; they are resilient to disruption, given their decentralized structures; they respond to urgent opportunities at a moment’s notice; and they integrate diverse perspectives to create new po

It emphasizes “critical connections over critical mass” – it is the depth of relationships that determine the strength of a system.

It is in the interactions between the parts that something new is created. This process is, in a word, emergence. Emergence is the magical quality that gives networks their exponential potential for impact. To tap into the boundless creativity that emerges when people from different parts of a system interact with one another, network leaders avoid

the networked “signal” of movements can be self-defeating without “capacity” to translate it into durable, adaptable organizations that can wield leverage long enough to achieve shared goals.