This model was developed in the spring of 1996 by a team of Knowledge Workers who had gathered to look at the issue of fitness in the MG Taylor network. (Not physical fitness, of course, but rather "fitness" in terms of skills, understandings and learning paths.) The Clamshell presents five perspectives from which Networkers can operate--Supporting an Event, Creating an Event, Creating a Relationship, Creating an Enterprise, and Creating a ValueWeb.

Support an Event On this level, the event KreW concentrates on ensuring that the tasks required to create a successful event are carried out: document, take care of logistics, set the environment, create the journal, etc. When the event is over, the job is done. This is the level of a Knowledge Worker.

Create an Event Designing an event (DesignShop, DesignSession, etc.) that will achieve the goals that are set out for it requires a deeper understanding of MG Taylor's processes and philosophies. It is important to understand the demands of each of the tasks involved in supporting the event, but the event designer must act from a higher level than those who are focused on tasks. This is the level of the Process Facilitator.

Create a Relationship Those involved in a relationship with the client understand the event in a much different way. The event is just one step in a longer process through which the client is going. The relationship-builder must discover what ends the client wishes to reach with the event and then must work to ensure that those ends are met. Beyond the event, the relationship-builder must help the client tie the event back into their own processes and history. To effectively build relationships in the MG Taylor model, this person must be a Transition Manager.

Create an Enterprise At the enterprise level, suddenly our subject has skin in the game. To view an event from the level of the enterprise that depends on that event is to see an entirely different activity. The event must live up to the standards the enterprise has set, yet it must also satisfy the client. The event is but one in a large number of events in the history and future of the enterprise, yet it could also be the one that could provide an opportunity for growth or the recipe for collapse. An enterprise is a dense and complex web of relationships that must be managed for its own benefit and growth.

Create a ValueWeb Operating from this perspective means working to grow the collective pie, rather than merely trying to cut a larger piece of a pre-existing pie. At this level, there is no "us/them" dichotomy. Even "competitors" in the same industry can work together to grow the industry, and if the industry grows, then there will be more for industry members to share. Operating from this broad venture perspective makes an event (especially a DesignShop event with its diversity of participants) appear to be full of untapped opportunities for new events, new relationships and new enterprises. This is where opportunity lies. This is the realm of Venture Management.

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