Insect Wisdom: Enhancing Our Practices Through Interaction :Insect Wisdom: Enhancing Our Practices Through Interaction Paul McDonald, PhD Department of Health Studies University of Waterloo Waterloo, Canada pwmcdona@healthy.uwaterloo.ca


Birds do it… :Birds do it…


Bees do it… :Bees do it… Think you know where this is going…?


Even Beatles did it at one time… :Even Beatles did it at one time…


…organize themselves to enhance their practices :…organize themselves to enhance their practices Bees use organization and interaction to build hives and produce pounds of honey each year. Ants and termites use organization and interaction to fight powerful enemies, and build elaborate homes several feet high.


What do humans do when they want to enhance their practices? :What do humans do when they want to enhance their practices? We talk about the need to create “best practices” by enhancing research transfer or research translation.


Researchers’ view of data to practice(research as a transfer) :Researchers’ view of data to practice(research as a transfer) Ex-tinguished researchers Leading edge evidence-based practitioners Dr. McDonald Dr Zhu Prestige journals Data Data Dr. Campbell


Problems with the transfer model :Problems with the transfer model Researchers may not address the most important and pressing questions Tend to focus more on precision of results than relevance (you can lead a horse to drink…) Arron the mad scientist Sunshade the horse Holy cow…what does that guy have in his hand?


Problems with the transfer model :Problems with the transfer model Researchers may not address the most important and pressing questions Tend to focus more on precision of results than relevance Researchers may ask the right questions but employ the wrong outcomes The outcomes may be persuasive to other researchers, but not to policy makers, program funders, and the intended program users


Problems with the transfer model :Problems with the transfer model Researchers may not address the most important and pressing questions Tend to focus more on precision of results than relevance Researchers may ask the right questions but employ the wrong outcomes The outcomes may be persuasive to other researchers, but not to policy makers, program funders, and the intended program users Researchers may ask the right questions but develop interventions that are not feasible to implement


Providers’ view of data to practice(research as retailing) :Providers’ view of data to practice(research as retailing) Ex-tinguished researchers Leading edge evidence-based practitioners Dr. McDonald Dr Zhu


Problems with the retail model :Problems with the retail model Research may not exist to answer the question being asked The cupboard is bare


Problems with the retail model :Problems with the retail model Research may not exist to answer the question being asked Research takes a long time to conduct – providers’ needs and circumstances change rapidly. Canadian Cancer Society official waiting for study results from Dr. McDonald


Problems with the retail model :Problems with the retail model Research may not exist to answer the question being asked Research takes a long time to conduct and providers needs and circumstances change rapidly Researchers’ institutions often don’t recognize applied work as part of performance for promotion and tenure; grants don’t provides funds.


So what do birds and insects know that we don’t? :So what do birds and insects know that we don’t? The creation of data is not enough. Knowledge, and practice are socially constructed. ?


Slide 16:Practice takes place within, and meaning is derived from, social interactions, experience, history and comparisons.


From data… :From data… Every cow in the European Union is subsidized by $2.50 per day.


…to meaning and informed practice :…to meaning and informed practice Every cow in the European Union is subsidized by $2.50 per day… that’s more than 75% of what individual Africans have to live on. Source: J. Williams, 2004


From data… :From data… The average Japanese girl born in 2002 can expect to live to be 84 years old.


…to meaning and informed practice :…to meaning and informed practice ….the average Botswanan girl will reach just 39. AIDS Poverty Malnutrition Civil war Domestic violence Source: Jessica Williams, 2004


From data :From data On average, quitters make 6 attempts to quit before maintaining abstinence.


…to meaning and informed practice :…to meaning and informed practice However…40% of quitters report quitting on their first serious attempt. Source: Ashley et al, 1996


From data :From data Telephone counseling routinely leads to real world quit rates of 13% or more.


…to meaning and practice :…to meaning and practice …while real world quit rates for NRT without counseling may only be 8%. Source: Hughes


How did you develop knowledge about quitline practices? :How did you develop knowledge about quitline practices? Did you just read about them and study data? Or…did you talk to scientists and quitline providers to help you understand what you read and what it means for your practice? Most people need to go beyond reading the work of strangers. We need to discuss ideas with people we know and trust so we can put new knowledge in the context of old knowledge.


From data to informed practice. A Communities of Practice Approach :From data to informed practice. A Communities of Practice Approach Community of Practice (CoP): A group of people who share a common set of practices (e.g., telephone counseling). Focus is on sharing “best” practices and creating knowledge to advance a domain of practice. Concept developed by Wenger and others in the 1990s. Increasingly being used by business who want to create “learning, adaptable organizations”


What is a CoP? :What is a CoP? A CoP is a group of people who mutually engage one another around a common, collectively negotiated goal, and who over time jointly develop a shared repertoire and history of a community’s practice. CoPs are dynamic social structures that require cultivation to emerge and grow.


All successful CoPs have 3 elements : :All successful CoPs have 3 elements : ? mutual engagement ? joint enterprise ? a shared repertoire. Wenger, 1998


Mutual engagement :Mutual engagement When people are engaged in sustained interaction Members are engaged in actions that have been negotiated between one another (vs. actions that have been asigned) Membership is not just an aggregate of people defined by some characteristic (whether you pay dues) Members must feel included and involved in what defines the community


Joint enterprise :Joint enterprise The process of collectively developing an understanding of what the community is about. The processes of holding each other accountable to these understandings.


Shared repertoire :Shared repertoire The development of shared practices, the creation of artifacts (guides, repositories), resources, common language, stories, etc..


Slide 32:The CoP informally brings people together who have shared expertise and interests for the purpose of interactively creating knowledge, resources and processes to better inform practice decisions of the community, and its individual members.


What CoPs do :What CoPs do Connect people who might not otherwise interact as frequently or at all Help people organize around purposeful actions that deliver tangible results Enable dialogue to explore new possibilities, solve problems, and create new mutually beneficial opportunities


What CoPs do :What CoPs do Stimulate learning through communication, mentoring, coaching and self-reflection Capture and diffuse existing knowledge to help people improve their practices by providing a forum to identify solutions to common problems and a process to collect and evaluate practices


What CoPs do :What CoPs do Provide shared context to communicate and share information, stories, personal experiences in a way that builds understanding and insight Generate new knowledge to help members transform their practice and accommodate changes in needs and technologies


How are CoPs unique? :How are CoPs unique? CoPs are defined by knowledge rather than by task. They exist as long as participation has value to its members. CoPs are more than just a set of relationships. CoPs produce a shared practice as members engage in the collective process of learning about their common practices.


The role of technology :The role of technology CoPs can be real, virtual or a combination Email, webcasts, teleconferences, bulletin boards can be used to facilitate mutual engagement and negotiate shared enterprises. It can be used to create and disseminate shared repertoire.


Are CoPs effective? :Are CoPs effective? Research by IBM Institute for Knowledge Management and Boston University looked at CoPs across different industries. Results: CoPs develop and maintain social capital which in turn improves organizational performance in four ways: decreasing learning curves of new members; increases customer responsiveness; prevents re-invention; increases innovation


Links between business outcomes and dimensions of social capital (Lesser & Storck, 2001) :Links between business outcomes and dimensions of social capital (Lesser & Storck, 2001) Dimensions of social capital Improved outcomes


Are CoPs effective? :Are CoPs effective? Manske (2002) conducted a case study of Canadian provinces/territories with high, medium and low tobacco control strategies Those with the most mutual engagement, joint enterprise and shared repertoire exhibited the highest levels of “knowledge exchange” specific to their goals.


“Best” practice is a misnomer :“Best” practice is a misnomer “Best” is a relative term that changes across time and contexts. What’s best today may not be best for tomorrow. What’s best for one may not be best for all. Best practice is based on the “retail” model of translation


Communities of Practice :Communities of Practice Allows continuous collection and interpretation of data in an interactive manner to ensure data is relevant and meaningful. Program providers inform researchers and funders about what information they need to make informed decisions They’re proactive. Researchers and providers collectively design and test next generation practices (tools, protocols, etc.)


NAQC as a Community of Practice :NAQC as a Community of Practice Mutual engagement: Regular video and teleconferences; face to face meetings Joint enterprise Membership criteria to decide who’s in and who’s not Develop joint research priorities Shared repertoire MDS Dictionary of data and terms Website Quitline Operations Manual


Implications for NAQC :Implications for NAQC Our approach has been consistent with a CoP framework CoP offers advantages over loose networks that only focus on sharing information Operating NAQC as a CoP would place the emphasis on knowledge generation and application, as well as sharing to improve the practice of telephone counseling for tobacco cessation


Implications for NAQC :Implications for NAQC Create and evaluate objectives to: enable dialogue, provide shared context to understand the practice of quitlines, stimulate learning and mentoring, capture and diffuse existing knowledge, organize people around purposeful actions such as generating new knowledge Use evaluation to make adjustments in resource allocation, activities, membership criteria, etc.


The NAQC Community of Practice? :The NAQC Community of Practice? Dr. McDonald Dr Zhu Ms. Hachey Dr. Campbell Dr. McAfee Dr. Cummings Ms. Czukar Mr. Anderson Ms. Rosenthal Ms. Bright Dr. Augustson


Slide 48:Insect wisdom: The creation of communities through meaningful interaction produce achievements beyond what any one entity could achieve on its own. Joint enterprise Shared repertoire Mutual engagment


Today’s presentation was brought to you by the letters B for bees and C for community :Today’s presentation was brought to you by the letters B for bees and C for community Starring….. Paul McDonald as…Busen Honeydue Scott Leischow as…Animal Shu Hong Zhu as…Old Man Statler Debbie Ossip-Klein as… Beaker


…and :…and Linda Bailey, Brenda Bryan, and Tamatha Thomas-Hasse as the honey bees and Zena Warrior Princess (you can figure out who is who)


Slide 51:Thank you