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This article examines learning in networks dealing with conditions of high uncertainty. The author examines the case of a crisis response network dealing with an exotic animal disease outbreak. The article identifies the basic difficulties of learning under crisis conditions. The network had to learn most of the elements taken for granted in more mature structural forms-the nature of the structural framework in which it was working, how to adapt that framework, the role and actions appropriate for each individual, and how to deal with unanticipated problems. The network pursued this learning in a variety of ways, including virtual learning, learning forums, learning from the past, using information systems and learning from other network members. Most critically, the network used standard operating procedures to provide a form of network memory and a command and control structure to reduce the institutional and strategic uncertainty inherent in networks.
All organizations and networks face some measure of uncertainty. Learning helps to manage uncertainty. The idea of network learning to meet asymmetric problems combines what Kettl (2005) has identified as the three major drivers of action in building a government for the 21st century: the imperative for knowledge-driven organizations, the increase in nonroutine problems, and the growing need for nonhierarchical solutions. The primary research goal of this article is to understand how networks learn under conditions of uncertainty by studying a crisis response network. In particular, I focus on mechanisms that foster learning during crises-intracrisis learning. A secondary research objective is to understand the role of network structure in reducing uncertainty.
Why do crisis response networks need to learn? Crisis management theorists have answered this question in different ways. A basic objective of crisis management is to accumulate wisdom by "learning together from the event in order to prevent, lessen the severity of, or improve upon responses to future crises" (Hillyard 2000, 9). Learning is one way of measuring the success of crisis response, with an effective response informing new policies and procedures that are applied to future incidents (Pearson and Clair 1998). According to Comfort, the crisis response network is "necessarily a learning system" because it "depends upon the ability of its participants to generate valid information, facilitate informed choice, and foster timely commitment to action. Further,...