Hastily formed networks

In times of crisis, disaster or uncertainty we often find ‘hastily formed networks’ (HFNs). In researching HFNs, I was surprised to find web sites devoted to ‘how to’. This seems a bit odd to me, and here’s why.

A couple of weeks ago the husband of a friend of mine was killed in an accident. This has left her to raise their four children on her own. Except she’s not completely on her own, of course. She lives and works in a small rural community and within days of the news spreading amongst the locals a roster for the next six months had been set up to provide meals, house cleaning and transport for the kids to sports and other activities.

This ‘hastily formed network’ and its very practical activities was achieved without plans, workshops, proposals, or performance indicators. Some people saw a need, came together, worked out how to proceed, and got to work. How hard is that?

Maybe we should take that sort of concern, initiative and responsibility to work too.