Participation – people taking part. Of course it is so much easier to get people to take part when they know their effort is meaningful. This is one of the reasons that meaningful participation is so important to our sense of well-being. Just like wholesome food is good for your body – wholesome (serving the ‘whole’) activity is good for us psycholologically. One of the reasons volunteer work is rated as so satifying by participants, is that it is done for the purpose of making a contribution.

One of the best ways to achieve meaningful participation (and build collaborative intelligence) is through communities of practice. Cultivating Communities of Practice (Etienne Wenger, Richard McDermot, & William S. Synder) the authors state:

‘…the explosion in science and technology creates  difficult paradox. At the same time that the increasing complexity of knowledge requires greater specialization and collaboration, the half-life of knowledge is getting shorter. Without communities focused on critical areas, it is difficult to keep up with the rapid pace of change.’

The challenge they refer to partially explains the proliferation of blogs – where very sepecialized information can be found that is also smack up to date. When I think of it blogging is also a great way to achieve meaningful participation with others.