WNDD SET PROGRAM - University of Nevada, Reno · PDF fileranging from casual acquaintance, ......

©2012 Future iQ Partners | www.future-iq.com

WNDD SET PROGRAMNETWORK MAPPING REPORT

2012 JulyNetwork mapping is a visual and mathematical analysis of how people interact, exchange information, learn and influence one another.

This project was made possible through a grant from the

Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development.

Network Analysis was developed by:Juliet Fox and David BeurleFuture iQ Partners

Future iQ Partners is a company that specializes in assisting communities, regions and organizations to plan and prepare for their future. With staff in USA, Europe and Australia, the company aims to develop the tools and approaches to allow regional communities to think about their future in a new way and to respond to a rapidly changing world. Future iQ Partners is a market leader in the field of regional scenario planning and network map-ping and undertakes projects at regional, industry and national levels.

For more information, contact Juliet Fox Email: [email protected]; Tel: +1 715 505 5046or visit our website www.future-iq.com

WNDD SET Region Network Mapping

Network Mapping Report Page 1

IntroductionPeopleLink or network analysis is focused on people networks.

Emerging research suggests that successful communities and

organizations have very specific networks ideally suited for

innovation, creativity, collaboration and regional resilience.

Future iQ Partners uses this tool to evaluate several key network

roles and develop customized strategies customized for the

alignment of those networks toward intentional goals.

PeopleLink Social network analysis, or PeopleLink as we like to

call it, is focused on people networks. Successful communities

and organizations have very specific networks and understand

the power of connection and collaboration. We evaluate several

key network roles and develop strategies customised for the

alignment of those networks toward your goals.

A social network is a description of the social structure of

individuals or organizations (nodes). It indicates the ways in which

they are connected (links) through various social familiarities

ranging from casual acquaintance, working interaction or close

familiar bonds.

Background• The Western Nevada Development District (WNDD) is a

voluntary association of local governments that consists of

eight counties and five cities. The counties cover a broad

30,000 square mile region that shares rural characteristics

and wide open spaces.

• The WNDD Board of Directors voted to join the Stronger

Economies Together (SET) process and use the information

developed to strengthen the development of WNDD’s

Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS)

and to build regional citizen-level support for the CEDS.

• Future iQ Partners worked with WNDD and the SET Regional

Team to develop a network maps to help implement working

groups to address seven issues that the SET Regional Team

identified as key to successful regional development. The

issues the SET Regional Team identified were

• Competitive Advantage

• Infrastructure Investments

• Worker Skills

• Cross Jurisdictional Collaboration

• Global View

• Assessment of Current Strengths

• Flexibility/Adaptability

• Comprehensive ApproachesFormalOrganizational Chart

InformalOrganizational Chart

Links

Nodes



Regional Implementations Strategies—Network MappingOne hundred seventeen people participated in an on-line network

mapping survey that showed the current state of connectedness

toward innovation within the region. The SET Regional Team

and the partners involved in the delivery of the SET Process will

use the network map to facilitate the development of effective

implementation of workgroups to achieve the vision and goals

set by the SET Regional Partnership. The following report was

prepared by Future IQ Partners and is included as part of the

SET Regional Blueprint.

WNDD SET Program Network Mapping IntroductionIn summer of 2012, the stakeholders of the WNDD SET

Program completed a network analysis. Selection of those

stakeholders was based on an adaption of the Community

Capitals Framework to ensure diversity and representation of

people across critical areas of the region. One of the factors in

creating the environment for long-term success of a project is

to focus on the development of a strong, dynamic and diverse

network of relationships. Network mapping is an effective tool

for visualizing the WNDD SET Program’s people and connecting

power, leading us to identify how the region can best interact

to share knowledge, move toward common goals and be

continuously innovative.

This network analysis was focused on examining the structure of

regional working relationships and informal connections between

people. This is an important tool to utilize for the WNDD SET

Program to understand the the patterns of interactions toward

common initiatives. This analysis starts to illuminate where

collaboration can be enhanced, talent and expertise could be

better leveraged, and where opportunities for diffusion and

innovation are being lost.

Community Capitals Framework (adapted from North Central Regional

Center for Rural Development)

The WNDD region has embarked in the SET Program in an

effort to enable the region to work together toward developing

and implementing an economic development blueprint for the

multi-county region that strategically builds on existing and

emerging economic strengths. This metric helps illuminate

areas where better social connectedness could help create the

context of success for the outcomes toward these common

goals. Knowing where the connections are, and are not, allows

the region to know where to suggest local interactions. Each

map tells a different story for the region and gives an insight to

connectivity and access to more opportunities. These network

maps reveal a snapshot of the region at a particular time.

Future iQ Partners compiled these network maps and metrics

of WNDD SET Program Region. To start, a network survey was

sent to stakeholders. Surveys were emailed to 186 stakeholders

and were asked to identify the people in which they connect

with utilizing the following questions.

| ©2012 Future iQ Partners

SOCIALCAPITAL

VITAL ECONOMY

HEALTHY ECOSYSTEM

SOCIAL EQUITY

NATURALCAPITAL

CULTURALCAPITAL

POLITICALCAPITAL

FINANCIALCAPITAL

HUMANCAPITAL

BUILTCAPITAL



Survey Questions:

• How often do you go to this person for leadership, partnership

or expertise in Economic Development in areas such as;

opportunity identification, investment attraction, economic

research, entrepreneurship development or marketing and

promotion?


or expertise in Physical Infrastructure for projects such

as; housing, water, roads, utilities, waste management,

broadband or parks and recreation?


or expertise for Workforce Development and Education in

areas such as; career and technical education, certification

programs, skills assessment and training, and employer

outreach?


or expertise in Health Care and Human Services activities

such as; health care access, diversity of health care services

(e.g. mental health, dental), social and youth services, and

food security?

• How often do you go to this person for Collaborative

project(s) and initiative(s) to enhance economic or community

development in the region or your community?

• See the descriptors listed above for Economic

Development. Community Development might

include: education and workforce development,

infrastructure development and improvement,

quality of life, culture and recreation issues, social

issues, e.g., crime, teen pregnancy and substance

abuse, leadership development, community image

and marketing.

• How often would you LIKE to collaborate with or learn new

ideas from this person on a project or initiative to enhance

economic growth or community development in the region

or your community?

The response maps and metrics are based on these questions

which are intentionally created to draw out; Leadership, Awareness,

Collaboration and Opportunity. Each of the corresponding maps

is described below in detail.

Response Rate and legendThe completion rate for the survey was above average at nearly

67%. The metrics include the respondents with both symmetric

and asymmetric ties. Asymmetric ties are one-way ties – when

a person is connected to another without the person indicating

they are connected back. This would often represent those

that were added by the survey participants as an additional

important person, or did not complete the survey. Symmetric

ties are stronger ties that indicate a reciprocal relationship

where both people recognized the connection.

Originals 185

Complete 118

Not 56

Bounced 11

Added 64

ASYMMETRIC

SYMMETRIC


STRENGTH OF CONNECTIONS

Never Sometimes

TWO STRENGTHS

THREE STRENGTHS

Often All The Time




Maps were based loosely on Community Capitals Framework

asset areas, as this well demonstrates how the region is

connected based on the research around essential asset areas

of a community. A well-connected community has been linked

to effective networks for individual, group and community

growth and vitality of community initiatives.

Overall Map Summary Results:

• Betweenness Centrality and Development of the core: The

overall network indicates that key regional members have

developed strong ties between themselves. These strong

ties are currently limited in diversity and new partnerships

in various key area are needed to bring together a strong

core network. This may be reflective of the interagency

partnerships that have been fostered by the SET Executive

Committee’s activities.

• It is further observed an underdevelopment of the “connector”

network – people who connect the otherwise unconnected

back to the central core. Connectors develop the potential

for gate-keeping, brokering, controlling the flow, and also of

liaising otherwise separate parts of the network. Connectors

have the power and access to what information flows and

the potential for synthesizing and interpreting messages.

• Clustering Coefficient indicates that key areas are less willing

to go outside of their bonded networks for connections. In

other words, each key area is consistently more likely to

connect with their others in the same key area. This is a

disadvantage for regional initiatives, as people need key area

cross connections and the experience of working together.

• Most counties tended toward geographic clustering, but

a few were a bit more integrated and show signs that of

further integration is possible. As the District is a multi-county

organization that benefits from multi-county collaboration

KEY AREAS

Economic Development

Government

Private Business / Private Citizen

Health Care

Human Services

Workforce Development / Education


CORE

CONNECTORS



and cooperation, the network shows a good start towards

regional collaboration, but also shows weaknesses in

cross-jurisdictional collaboration.

• The maps show a density of economic, government and

private business / citizen toward the core with less human

services and workforce development representation at the

core. The advantage of this kind of configuration is that

the people with political and financial resources are at the

heart of the network and can move those resources easily

toward critical needs

• Bonding & Bridging network connections are two very

important kinds of community connectivity. Bonding

connections are close-knit trusted groups. Bridging network

connections are across bonded networks and create the

environment to access new resources and an opportunity

for innovation and creative thinking. WNDD SET Program’s

network maps indicate strong clusters of bonding networks

and illuminate a need for bridging networks. This shows a

mild tendency towards silos within the region.

Bridging and bonding networks

Notes:

• A database was created with representation from across

the region in key areas, but was used after the SET program

was initiated which may have impacted the results to

reflect that the region might already be more connected by

networking in the SET process. Responses were not equal to

each key area. The database was heavy weighted towards

government and light in health care, human services and

workforce development; this may indicate self-selection

among a government and economic development group.

SET meetings are all open to the public, but government

an economic development professionals have attended in

a disproportionate share.

• The response Rate at 67% gives a fairly good indication

of the network’s overall capacity. We mainly focused on

one-way connections (Asymmetric - where one respondent

indicates a connection to another, but it is not reciprocal).

Overall Network

Total leadership Network – by Capital Key AreaGroup Size 88

Potential Ties 7656

Actual Ties 544

Density 7%

Weighted Avg. Path length: 1.87

The overall network is represented in the image below. In

comparison to the iQ Network Example, WNDD SET Program’s


BONDING NETWORK

BRIDGING NETWORK

CONNECTORS

NUMBERS OF SURVEY PARTICIPANTS BY KEY AREAS

Economic Development20

Government80

Private Business/ Private Citizen

45

Health Care4

Human Services10

Workforce Development/ Education

30




overall network has several dense cores with a periphery of

weak ties that can bring in new information and connections.

This overall WNDD maps indicate an ‘insular’ effect – where

many people in the region are connecting with the same

asset group (key asset area). This also indicates that people

are partnering with others within their own capital area. This

suggests strong bonding ties for the region, but may limit the

ability for the region to be innovative in the new economy (which

requires bridges between different focus areas).

Refer to map: WNDD Overall Network.pdf on page 15

Organization By Geography

Observations - There is some clear clustering of relationships

based on geography, highlights include:

• All counties tended toward geographic clustering, but a few

were a bit more integrated and show signs that of further

integration is possible. As the District is a multi-county

organization that benefits from multi-county collaboration and

cooperation, the map shows a good start towards regional

collaboration, but also shows that programs need to be

designed in such a way as to reward cross-jurisdictional

collaboration.

• The map has a small central core. There should be more

people that are at the center of the network here – and

those individuals should be encouraging others to be

involved in region-wide central in all areas of economic

development, physical infrastructure, workforce development,

Health Care and Human Services, and other collaborative

projects. This is intended to bring together stakeholders

from across the region in detailed project works – to build

the bonding network core. Further, this kind of collaboration

geographically enables people to share ideas, consolidate

relationships, exchange information, goods and services,

and cooperate in incredibly efficient and innovative ways.



Refer to map: WNDD Overall Network Map By County on page 16

Economic NetworkQuestion from Survey:

How often do you go to this person for leadership, partnership

or expertise in Economic Development in areas such as;

opportunity identification, investment attraction, economic

research, entrepreneurship development or marketing and

promotion?

Group Size 174

Potential Ties 30102

Actual Ties 602

Density 2%

Computing geodesics

602 paths of length 1


Weighted Avg. Path Length: 1.85

COUNTIES

Carson City

Pershing

Storey

Washoe

Other

Humboldt

Lyon

Douglas

Churchill


Mineral



communities within the region. Development of leaders from

across the key capital areas and local communities is essential

to build peer advise networks that are not dependant upon

regional coordinators.

Physical Infrastructure NetworkQuestion from Survey:


or expertise in Physical Infrastructure for projects such as;

housing, water, roads, utilities, waste management, broadband

or parks and recreation?

Group Size 166


Actual Ties 388

Density 1%

Computing geodesics




Refer to map: WNDD Economic Network on page 17

This maps shows a density of economic, government and

private business / citizen toward the core with less human

services and workforce development representation at the

core. The advantage of this map is that the people with political

and financial resources are at the heart of the network and can

move those resources easily toward critical needs.

This kind of map shows the need for more integration of human

oriented areas in economic development. With this integration,

the region can expect to see ideas, projects and knowledge

flow towards people mobilization areas.

Expertise leaders in this area that have a high ‘Reach-in’ metric

are mostly not the “on the ground” leadership from the local



Refer to map: WNDD Infrastructure Network on page 18

Infrastructure has similar structure to economic as the core is

mainly government and economic development professionals.

Again, this has advantages when needing to move resources

toward initiatives, but may pose some issues when wanting

to mobilize people toward efforts.

Both the diversity of the core and the core itself should be

addressed. In two ways:

• Diversity: Bring more human capital people and organizations

into core economic and government toward infrastructure.

• Density in Core: Bring more people into the core processes

– creating partnerships and cooperative initiatives will be

key to building a larger and denser core network.

In addition the connectors (people that transfer the knowledge

and resources to the masses of the region) need to be developed

around infrastructure needs – perhaps through media or

engagement activities around key initiatives.

Workforce and Education Network Question from Survey:

Who do you go to for leadership or expertise on workforce

development, employment or immigration?

Group Size 148


Actual Ties 407

Density 2%

Computing geodesics






Refer to map: WNDD Workforce and Education Network on page 19

This workforce network shows little density, which might indicate

why there has been little integration with economic development

and government as the workforce network of leaders are not

connected to each other sharing ideas, exchanging information

or co-creating solutions; it would make sense that they would

also not see the importance of this with outside groups.

This network was also heavy with government and economic

development individuals, but could be this way as the pool of

stakeholders in workforce development was less than these

two combined areas. We would expect to find the workforce

development representatives at the core. The presence of

economic development professionals indicates that their peers

either so rely on them for workforce expertise or they have

better reasons (such as funding of workforce initiatives) to go

to economic development and government contacts.

Again, density and diversity of core is essential. In addition,

this map needs economic development and government folks

to move to connectors and development workforce leadership

to take over these expertise areas.

Health Care and Human Services NetworkQuestion from Survey


or expertise in Health Care and Human Services activities such

as; health care access, diversity of health care services (e.g.

mental health, dental), social and youth services, and food

security?

Group Size 116


Actual Ties 177

Density 1%

Computing geodesics






Refer to map: WNDD Health Care and Human Services Network on page 20

The health care and human services map show little strength

in core strength and connector structure. It may have to do

with the very few numbers of these individuals in the survey,

but also may reflect a weakness similar to the workforce map

in human capital areas.

This is a very loosely connect network and needs intervention

by leadership to determine if the network analysis reflects

the reality and develop leadership and connectors with the

already established leaders from economic development and

government.

The smallness of this network could be reflective of two items:

rural health facilities are generally smaller than in urban areas,

and many residents may use large urban providers for health

care, further diminishing ties within the network. A selection bias

in terms of focusing the resources of the group towards more

traditional economic development activities in the region—hard

infrastructure, business recruitment, etc.

Collaboration NetworkQuestion from Survey

How often do you go to this person for Collaborative project(s)

and initiative(s) to enhance economic or community development

in the region or your community?

Group Size 185


Actual Ties 632

Density 2%

Computing geodesics






Refer to map: WNDD Collaboration Network on page 21

These collaborative maps show some density, but only slightly

developed connectors. Again the leadership lies distinctly in

economic and government areas indicating the key areas are

more likely to collaborate with each other then to step outside

of their key capital areas for collaboration.

This network shows mild “Small Worlds” evidence – where many

people go to the same person for problems and may not be

able to develop local solutions. It may also indicate that these

key individuals are being overly relied upon for collaboration.

Although slightly better than the previous networks, this is

also a loose network and density is around very few people

in economic development mainly– the density and diversity

of the network needs attention to create more opportunities

for collaboration.

Potential Collaboration NetworkQuestion from Survey

How often would you LIKE to collaborate with or learn new

ideas from this person on a project or initiative to enhance

economic growth or community development in the region or

your community?

Group Size 223


Actual Ties 1096

Density 2%

Computing geodesics






Refer to map: WNDD Potential Collaboration Network on page 22

There was an overwhelming response to the question of who

you would like to collaborate with on the survey which included

a large population of added names. We broke them down in two

different maps – to get the map that would reflect a possible

collaboration map that is the “low hanging fruit” of action. It is

important to note that the “most wanted” collaboration people

as noted in the metrics were with the leadership representatives

in SET. What matters is what collaborations will exist after the

process is concluded.

Recommendations Network mapping gives us an image of a community that will

change with the respondents and over time. All throughout a

regional change process network maps guide the way – they

reveal what we know about the network and they uncover

possible next steps for the better connectivity and action.

This process highlighted critical areas that may be optimal

to address. It is important to know the network in an ongoing

way by taking network mapping snapshots and to evaluate

the process regularly.

WNDD SET Program can start weaving together the necessary

skills and resources to build simple single hub networks. A more

robust multi-hub network, concluding with a resilient core/

periphery structure – maximized for learning, implementation

and innovation. A networked region will have evidence of people

weaving social ties, openly build and share knowledge, have

widespread engagement and leadership’s focus on coordinating

resources toward commonly developed action.

Next steps are to address the following questions:

• Are the right numbers of connections and are they in the

right place?

• Are any key connections missing?

• Who are playing leadership roles in the community?

• Who is not, but should be?

• Who are the experts in process, planning and practice?

• Who are the mentors that others seek out for advice?

• Who are the innovators? Are ideas shared and acted upon?

• Are you supporting coalitions, alliances or networks?



In addition the following steps are suggested:

• Target human capital and integrate with economic and

financial capital in all areas of the regional network. This will

move ideas forward from a human capacity point of view.

• Move isolated clusters from each map – connection them

could start to create the densecore that resembles iQ

networks. The high influencers should be brought into

the core, along with their connectors, to collaborate on

action items.

• Utilize current focus areas of action as a way to build a

dense core of leaders that take responsibility for building

networks across the region and are intentionally connected

outside the region.

• Utilize ongoing actions as a conduit to build connections

across asset areas (community capitals) – this will relieve

the insular effect and move the region towards becoming

a iQ network.

SET success benchmarks utilizing these indica-tors of network development:

• People in the WNDD SET Program region gain a broader

and deeper awareness of the people that represent all of

the community capital areas.

• There is a consistent focus to deliberately make new

connections in and outside of the region.

• There is a regional culture to connect to information,

resources and potential partners.

• There is an overall sense of optimism in the region.

• People see change and diversity as valuable to attaining

shared regional goals.

• There is a willingness to partner and combine assets in

non-typical partnerships toward aregional vision.

• People become more self-organizing, innovative, agile,

inclusive, strengths-based, and dedicated to shared goals.

The regional team showed great interest in the implementation

of the report and on improving areas of network weakness—

especially as it related to health care and workforce development

issues in the region. In hindsight, the Executive Committee

wishes that a map had been done before and after the SET

process to show the process’ impact on regional collaboration.



REPORT PREPARED By:

Juliet Fox and David Beurle, Future iQ Partners – July 2012

Future iQ Partners works to develop and refine the tools and approaches that help people see the future in a new way.

Having worked around the world for nearly a decade, we have amassed a wealth of practical experience in building Future

Intelligence. Our approach is to provide the framework for regions and organizations to explore their future, and to find

where they can powerfully shape their own response and trajectory. The origins of Future iQ Partners began back in 2003,

when David Beurle founded Innovative Leadership. In 2009, Juliet Fox joined the company, and through this auspicious

partnership, they have reinvented the company into today’s Future iQ Partners.

Our team of staff and partners ensure we have the capacity to deliver high quality programs that will make a lasting difference.

ABOuT THE AuTHORS:

David Beurle Partner

Contact: [email protected]

David specializes in creating future planning approaches for use in regional, community and organizational

settings. He pioneered the application of scenario planning to regions and rural industries around

the world, and developed the Future Game as a widely used planning and workshop tool. David has

worked in the field of regional and community planning and revitalization for over 20 years. He is an accomplished speaker

and workshop facilitator, having led over 100 large-scale community vision sessions across North America, and numerous

keynote addresses and workshop presentations. He has held a position on the Board of the Western Australian Community

Foundation, and worked as a senior staff member to an Australian Cabinet Minister. His work in community and economic

development has earned his work international, national and state awards.

Juliet Fox Partner

Contact: [email protected]

Juliet specializes in developing the products and approaches that allow communities and organizations

to flourish in a rapidly changing world. In particular, she has expertise in the emerging science of social

network mapping and interactive community engagement. She has over 20 years of experience with

diverse groups in strategic planning, leadership development, engaged consensus building, building ideal networks and

economic feasibility efforts. Juliet developed a strong connection to the catalysts of social change during her 10 years of

lecturing at University of Wisconsin-Stout in subjects on technological advancements and changing societies. She is an

accomplished presenter who engages her audiences to explore the future in a thought-provoking manner. She has served

her community for two terms as an elected official in Wisconsin, USA and completed her graduate work in Human and

Organizational Systems.



FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE NETWORK MAPPING PROCESS PlEASE CONTACT:

Juliet Fox

Future iQ Partners

Phone: +1 715 505 5046

Email: [email protected]

Online: www.future-iq.com

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