Cohere Podcast

On this episode of the Cohere podcast, Lauren and Bill talk to Dr. Sharon Varney, author of the new book "Leadership in Complexity and Change", and leading researcher and practitioner in the field of Complexity Science. In the early 2000s, Drd Varney came across complexity theory. "That's how the world really works", she thought! And so began her journey into academia as she explored what that meant for leadership and change practice. Now Sharon brings those insights into her leadership and organization development work in many different sectors. Sharon continues to enjoy a close working relationship with Henley Business School. Working at the interface of academia and practice, she is constantly striving to advance the leading edge of informed practice. Her new book, 'Leadership in Complexity and Change' addresses complexity straightforwardly without dumbing it down. It draws on her award-winning doctoral research and the practical application of key ideas by a wide range of managers and professionals in diverse sectors from retail to healthcare, finance, charities and government bodies. It is unashamedly hopeful, ultimately practical, with a robust academic pedigree. In the episode, we discuss a working definition of complexity science, explore the nature of change as it relates to organizations, how anyone within an organization is actually participating in ongoing change (whether they realize it or not), and how we all can be more mindful and intentional about leadership in the midst of constant change. Key Quotes: "Drawing on complexity science helps us understand the world a bit more fully and that can help us make some different choices, perhaps more deliberate choices about what we say and do in our everyday lives." "T​hose who are really inside-inside, are the ones who are making change happen. They are the ones who understand the context. They are the people who will either create change or, or not." "You can't outsource change. We change from within organizations. So you can put in a new structure, that's actually the easy part, but whether the new structure will deliver the benefits that were hoped for, or different ways of working, or whether you are changing a whole team out and bringing in new people will actually change the culture - you don't know that. There are absolutely no guarantees for that. So, you've made a change. It cost a lot of money. It costs a lot of emotional energy and you may or may not have gotten any benefits from it. So insider actions and insider words are how change actually happens. It's actually quite mundane and sometimes we don't notice it because we're expecting it to come in a big, shiny, package with a large price tag attached to it." "If we're trying to work on change in organizations, we need to ask ourselves who's in the conversation and who's in the community - they can be really helpful questions because then it draws attention to, and who's not who, whose voices are we not hearing?" "Diversity is really important because differences create novelty and innovation. That's what complexity science will tell us. It is micro-differences - coming in with a different experience of life of, of the world, just might cause us to react in a different way. It's differences that create something new." Resources from this episode: 'Leadership in Complexity and Change: For a world in constant motion' by Dr Sharon Varney Find Dr Sharon Varney online: Twitter @DrSharonVarney LinkedIn Dr Sharon Varney Website: spaceforlearning.com General resources mentioned in this episode: Henley Business School The Henley Forum 'A complexity perspective on organisational change: making sense of emerging patterns in self-organising systems' by Dr Sharon Varney Professor Ralph D. Stacy Flight of the Starlings: Watch This Eerie but Beautiful Phenomenon | Short Film Showcase [Video] Books mentioned in this episode: 'Images of Organization' by Gareth Morgan 'Information Ecologies: Using Technology with Heart' by Bonnie A. Nardi and Vicki O'Day 'Embracing Complexity: Strategic Perspectives for an Age of Turbulence' by Jean G. Boulton, Peter M. Allen, and Cliff Bowman 'Artificial Intelligence: A Guide for Thinking Humans' by Melanie Mitchell

Kaliya Young is many things: an advocate for open Internet identity standards, a leader in the identity space - including hosting the Internet Identity Workshop, a published author, and a skilled Open Space facilitator. On this episode of the Cohere podcast, Kaliya joins Bill to discuss the history of online identity, what events led us to the consolidation of identity into a few centralized platforms, and what steps we need to take to recover and protect our online identities.

In this short and timely conversation, Bill and Lauren discuss the concept of the Metaverse, how thinking in the narrative structures of science fiction might help us understand the concept and a slew of great book recommendations. Enjoy! We'lll be back in early November with new episodes.

In this episode of the Cohere podcast, Bill Johnston and Dr. Lauren Vargas welcome Nancy White back to the show. Nancy is a true polymath, involved in shaping the early online community and collaboration movement and also deeply versed in group facilitation. Nancy is the Founder of Full Circle Associates and has a long history of working with global NGOs and non-profits on large-scale collaboration and community initiatives.In the episode we talk to Nancy about her personal experiences during the pandemic, what changes she's observed in her communities and in her work, and explore how we might take what we have learned about collaboration and communities during the pandemic with us back into the world when we begin to emerge from the pandemic.

In this episode of the Cohere podcast, Bill Johnston and Dr. Lauren Vargas discuss the future of communities with digital transformation and disruptive leadership expert Charlene Li. We speak with Charlene about her new book "The Disruption Mindset", the evolving role of social technologies, and the pitfalls and opportunities of leading during periods of disruption (for instance, during a global pandemic.)

On this episode of the Cohere Podcast, Bill and Lauren review highlights from Season 2 guests, look back on formative roles in their respective careers and dig into the topic of transformational communities. From Bill: The plan for this season of the Cohere podcast is for Lauren and me to use the podcast as a means to learn and make meaning in public. Our plan is to do a series of 3 interviews, followed by an interstitial episode to review and discuss the preceding series. This is our first interstitial session, and is a long-form conversation between myself and Lauren - and we cover a lot of ground! We begin with a look back at our respective early career experiences that led us into community development - Lauren at the Army and Air Force Exchange Service (part of the Gov 2.0 movement), and my first large role at TechRepublic.com. We then review and discuss the first four episodes of the podcast from this season: Episode 1 - where we tee up the concepts of network science and the potential value this discipline brings to community practitioners Episode 2 - we interview Gail Ann Williams, and discuss her long-standing relationship with The WELL, one of the longest-running commercial online communities Episode 3 - we interviewed Carrie Melissa Jones, in what Lauren describes as a "masterclass in community leadership" Episode 4 - Jim Cashel returns to update us on "The Great Connecting" and the implications of bringing the next 3 billion people online We end the episode by discussing my recent post about the end of the Social Boom and the coming era of transformational communities.

In this episode of the Cohere podcast, Bill and Lauren speak with returning guest Jim Cashel about the progress of the "Great Connecting" - the global rollout of broadband Internet - during the COVID19 pandemic. The conversation covers a wide range of topics, including the role of the Internet during COVID lockdowns, having our realities largely mediated via screens and networks, the state of wireless and satellite broadband technologies, public policy surrounding Internet access, and much more. Jim is the Chairman of Forum One Communications, a former recent Visiting Fellow at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, and author of the book, "The Great Connecting: The Emergence of Global Broadband, and How That Changes Everything".

On this episode of the Cohere podcast, Lauren and Bill welcome author and community strategist Carrie Melissa Jones. Carrie has been managing online communities since the early 2000s. Over the course of her career, she has trained, advised, and coached leaders of thousands of online communities. Carrie is the coauthor of Building Brand Communities. She helps brands create new communities, select technology, envision community roadmaps, and think strategically. Prior to founding her own business, Carrie was the Founding Partner and COO for CMX Media, the 'community for community builders' providing training, events, and programs for community builders around the world. In addition to helping companies build communities, Carrie is a passionate advocate for community professionals and believes that everyone deserves to belong and feel empowered.In their conversation, Lauren and Bill talk to Carrie about her latest community research insights, delve deeper into some of the concepts introduced in the book, Building Brand Communities, and discuss compassionate self-care and boundaries for community professionals. Show Hosts & Authors: Bill Johnston & Dr. Lauren Vargas

On this episode of the Cohere podcast, Bill Johnston and Dr. Lauren Vargas are joined by pioneering community strategist and manager Gail Ann Williams. Gail watched the dawn of online communities through her participation and eventual leadership position at the WELL - one of the first successful large-scale online communities. Prior to any research studies, consultants or books about online communities Gail was navigating the challenges of community strategy, development, policy, and exploring the business models of community - more or less in real-time. Gail's journey at the WELL started as a conference manager in 1991, and she helped guide the community through several transformational changes, including an acquisition of the WELL by salon.com in 1999. And the eventual repurchase back from salon.com by a group of passionate members in 2012. In this episode, we discuss: The founding of the WELL and early community culture How the dawn of the Internet affected the WELL Experimenting with different community business models How text-based community experiences can be sensory-rich experiences How privacy, even in private forums, can't be assumed How communities still provide a unique environment for compassion and empathy

In the first episode of Season 2 of the Cohere podcast, Bill Johnston and Dr. Lauren Vargas explore the concept of "network" as it relates to online and real-life communities. In the episode they cover: The many definitions of "Network" The technical infrastructure linking people and things The implicit and dynamic connections between people in a group (aka social graph) The activity of actively seeking connections Special places vs special people How a network relates to a community "The difference between a community and a network is that you belong to a community, but a network belongs to you." Zygmund Bauman - as quoted in El Pais, Jan '12 The Network Epochs Mobility & Transportation Networks Analog Communications (telegraph / phone / TV) The commercial Internet Internet + Social Graph (the dawn of Facebook) Internet + Social Graph + Algorithms (the dominance of Facebook) What's next? Additional sources referenced in the show: "The Seventh Sense" - Joshua Cooper Ramo "Network Science" - Albert-Laszlo Barabasi "The Square and the Tower" - Niall Ferguson "Mother Earth, Motherboard", Wired - Neal Stephenson "The Hype Machine" - Sinan Aral "Fixing the Social Media Crisis" - Exponential View podcast host Azeem Azhar interviews Sinan Aral "Connected" - Nicholas Christakis, James Fowler "Change" - Damon Centola