Organizational Learning and Communities of Practice: Toward a unified view of working, learning,and innovation. Brown & Duguid (1991)

The purpose of this article is to show that working, learning and innovating must be linked to thrive collectively.

training is the transference of explicit, abstract knowledge from one to another. learning is built out of the materials at hand in relation to the structuring resources of local conditions. To be effective in my facilitation, I need to understand my adult learners as persons and understand the community they inhabit.
One size does not fit all. I must be adaptable.

Legitemate Peripheral Participation is not a method of education but a tool for understanding learning. In LPP learners learn to function in community. The central issue in learning is becoming a practitioner not learning about practices. I must help my adult learners grasp how to use the information presented to them.

Group theory considers groups are bounded entities within an organization and are organized by the organization's view of tasks. Communities are not bound, more fluid and often not recognized by the organization. Consequently, I can not look only at job roles and managment expectations when I assess training needs. I need to know how work and learning are really accomplished. This raises a red flag about forcing a team or work group into the workplace without truly understanding the communities involved.
Employee resistence will occur if I interrupt any process they value.

Legitemacy (how to tasks) and peripherality (manner, technique, producers producing) are necessary so workers are not uncertain about the cause of errors (inevitable or the fault of personal inadequacy.