Abstract EN:

The historiography of the Club of Montréal provides us with lessons about the conditions and results of social learning without hierarchical control. Several elements dominate: the professional expertise of each member of the community, the will to improve this expertise and the level of confidence given to someone once they have been co-opted as a member of the Club. The Club of Montréal goes beyond the level of confidence of competency and intention by adding an amicable relationship. The Club of Montréal may be qualified as a community of practice because the members of the community of practice carry on sharing their professional practices. In this context, practice has the sense of an area of knowledge in construction, delivering a repertoire shared between the members of a community who have established a mutual help system. The members of the Club of Montréal have produced, always on a personal level, articles and books. They have also collectively organised conferences and produced drawings, some of which have become part of the patrimony of the community (such as the collection of often humorous aphorisms about management and company life). The analysis emerging from this history covers three areas of investigation beginning with the contribution of the Club of Montréal to project management. The second area of analysis deals with the learning methods practised within the Club: autonomy, sharing professional experiences, humour and friendship are essential elements. The final analysis takes a step back from the Club of Montréal to carry on a reflection on the interests of the theory of communities of practice towards organization