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Experience has been gained and a body of literature is building about how Communities of Practice (CoPs) within organizations are formed. We are learning about the progression of communities over time, how they evolve and mature, and about the factors that contribute to their sustainability. However, communities, being “living systems”, do not live forever, or even very long. That said, exactly why and how does any particular Community of Practice (CoP) disappear? This chapter will discuss the factors related to the ending of individual communities. Specifically, it will address three basic questions: 1) In what ways do CoPs disappear; what are the different paths and patterns? 2) Why do communities disappear? 3) What are ways to help a community transition? The material for this chapter is drawn primarily from observations of and experiences with CoPs in IBM Global Services. A number of these communities over the past years have “disappeared”, but they have not all “disappeared” in the same way. The authors will discuss patterns and variations that have emerged as these communities vanished from the organizational scene. In working with these communities, they have also developed a general guide to aid in the communities’ transitioning. The authors will very briefly describe the steps in this guide.

This article describes how a universitybased continuing education program successfully effected a change in the organized mental health services in a large metropolitan area, The principles, goals, and outcomes of a continuing education program oriented toward mental health system change and utilizing community organization interventions are reported and discussed. Comparisons are made to traditional individually oriented continuing education programs. Mental health professionals were trained in program consultation to community care facilities serving chronic mental patients, and attempts were made to have such consultations incorporated into the organized service delivery systems. University-based continuing education can be a major stimulus and have a major impact on the organized mental health delivery systems.

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