Greetings everyone,

Thank you for joining The Inland Northwest Champions Network (INWCN). We few that are seeking a better community for all.

I feel confident from all of the purpose and network oriented movements that I have observed over the last 6 months. Change is coming.

An economy based on who has the means to spend is being challenged by an organic movement based on human connection and purpose.

I'm grateful for you here on this list who are seeking a different path.

​

Information Silos

I'd like to start this first note with a lesson that I've been teaching at Gonzaga University for the last 9 years. While it originally came from Information Systems, I believe that the basic principles apply to organizations that co-exist in a community as well.

That lesson begins with the word "silo."

If you travel the backroads of Eastern Washington, you will often encounter tall buildings standing next to a set of railroad tracks. The icon cylindrical shape with pipes and spouts springing from the sides are hard to miss.

These are silos and their purpose is quite specific. Product (information), is piped into the top of the silo and it drops down to its holding place until a train appears to be loaded. Then the spout is lowered and the grain car is filled in a controlled manner.

In business, we are also used to seeing silos. Large organizations build up databases of information. If nothing is done to change that, the databases become silos where only those with access know what is happening.

And in business, organizations can become silos as well. Even well intentioned organizations, built for the purpose of collaborating and sharing information, can become a mysterious silo to any but those who are directly engaged.

​

Silos Create Inefficiency

The challenge of a silo is that the effort to control information and information flow means that you have to be invited into the system before you can know the information.

Last fall I met a competitor in my space. An MSP who handles IT and cybersecurity related tasks for customers.

I asked him if he was planning on attending the upcoming cybersecurity conference at Gonzaga University. He had never heard about it. He was one of many, many people who were on the "outside" of that particular silo.

I was able to get him the information he needed. And he did in fact attend the event.

But the experience reminded me again of why the book The Champions Network by Matt Silverman resonated with me when I read it.

​

Champions Networks Transcend Silos

A champions network is a system that can transcend the hard boundaries the silos build. The network is an intentional tool we build that identifies individuals within various organizational silos that are people of influence.

Once identified, we can provide them with tools, information, and skills training to help an idea spread across the silo boundaries. We're not creating a new silo. We're leveraging the existing silos and their communications channels to let ideas spread.

That is the ah ha moment I had when I first read the book.

If a champions network can grow an idea in an organization like Boeing, why couldn't it be used to bridge organizations in a community like Spokane, a metropolitan area like Spokane/Coeur d' Alene, or even a region like Eastern Washington.
​

Let's Start Something...

I hope that you caught a bit of my vision today.

Would you consider doing something that would grow this group?

1. Consider buying your own copy of Matt Silverman's book. What you have experienced is easier to talk about: Available On Amazon (non-affiliate link)​
2. If you know someone who thinks like you do about these things, invite them to sign up for INWCN: INWCN Website.​
3. If you would like to start a conversation, reply to this email and ask your question...

​

Coming Soon:

I have plans to work on creating interactive content to teach the lessons of The Champions Network. Keep an eye out on the page for the lesson from the Introduction from the book. Due out by the end of the month.

Thanks for taking a chance with me. May your journey be blessed this week.
​
Rob

​