Designing Networks for Innovation and Improvisation

Abstract

Every community has some form of shared mindsets and visions that were formed by the founders and the people who contributed to its growth. Moreover, the behavior, attitude, and style of the community are also created by its members. These are important factors to differentiate one community from another, and also for the community to continue to exist. In the beginning stages, a community's identity is repeatedly told over and over again mainly by the founding members to be passed down. However, eventually when these veteran members have to leave the group, their unique attributes and qualities that originally existed are also lost. Moreover, it is not the mere copy and paste of the same traditions that is important, but they have to adapt to the ever-changing world it is a part of, while preserving their unique identity. We can see examples of these communities in universities with visions and missions which were set at the time of the school's establishment. Students and teachers (whom are members of the community) establish unique mindsets and viewpoints of their university while spending their time studying their interests at the university, while contributing to shape the community's identity as a whole. The community has some of mobility because of the school changes constantly as students come in and out. In this case, the quality and identities of the school will be easily lost if such qualities are not continually updated or reproduced. There are also other more open and self-directing communities similar to that of a Collaborative Innovation Network (COIN), where people come in and out freely