A young girl was walking along a beach upon which thousands of starfish had been washed up during a terrible storm. When she came to each starfish, she would pick it up, and throw it back into the ocean. People watched her with amusement.
She had been doing this for some time when a man approached her and said, “Little girl, why are you doing this? Look at this beach! You can’t save all these starfish. You can’t begin to make a difference!”
The girl seemed crushed, suddenly deflated. But after a few moments, she bent down, picked up another starfish, and hurled it as far as she could into the ocean. Then she looked up at the man and replied, “Well, I made a difference to that one!”
The old man looked at the girl inquisitively and thought about what she had done and said. Inspired, he joined the little girl in throwing starfish back into the sea. Soon others joined, and all the starfish were saved.
— Adapted from The Star Thrower by Loren C. Eiseley
Story 1: 5 1/2 years ago, the World Bank Group had one external facing CoP on its old eScoop - external social collaboration site. So migrating to the new Collaboration for Development Platform was fairly easy.
The past few years we have held steady at about 8,000 mostly external members being served by about 100 "active" and maybe another 100 "less active" Communities of Practice (CoPs). Members come and go, CoPs come and go (sort of like an ocean on the beach)
Perhaps 800 of these external members "actively" create and take actions on content on a semi-regular basis while (how do these members help us influence and impact (it's share) of the 7.6 Billion people who share our (World)?
Many more than 8,000 view C4D content every day (since "Members Only" groups do not require viewers to be members, anyone with a browser, around the globe can search and find C4D content).
Some pieces C4D content, (not all) is downloaded, and shared with, or inspires other content that affects or influences 10s of thousands or a million or more people.
Tools, tips, training, tactics, toolkits, tacit and explicit knowledge is bridged - Just-in-time to and from World Bank Group colleagues to external colleagues, clients, government partners, key stakeholders, academic, corporate, and NGOs, and interested citizens.
I wonder, is C4D like the little girl on the beach in the Starfish Story?
Discussion » “Well, I made a difference to that one!”
“Well, I made a difference to that one!”
What is your CoP Story of Impact?
I am reminded the Starfish Story:
A young girl was walking along a beach upon which thousands of starfish had been washed up during a terrible storm. When she came to each starfish, she would pick it up, and throw it back into the ocean. People watched her with amusement.
She had been doing this for some time when a man approached her and said, “Little girl, why are you doing this? Look at this beach! You can’t save all these starfish. You can’t begin to make a difference!”
The girl seemed crushed, suddenly deflated. But after a few moments, she bent down, picked up another starfish, and hurled it as far as she could into the ocean. Then she looked up at the man and replied, “Well, I made a difference to that one!”
The old man looked at the girl inquisitively and thought about what she had done and said. Inspired, he joined the little girl in throwing starfish back into the sea. Soon others joined, and all the starfish were saved.
— Adapted from The Star Thrower
by Loren C. Eiseley
Story 1: 5 1/2 years ago, the World Bank Group had one external facing CoP on its old eScoop - external social collaboration site. So migrating to the new Collaboration for Development Platform was fairly easy.
I wonder, is C4D like the little girl on the beach in the Starfish Story?
Is your CoP like the little girl on the beach?