The Net Works

Networking can be a vital part of corporate or individual success, but it can be poorly understood. Sociologist Robin Dunbar's work on strong and weak ties has shown that we have an upper limit to the number of actual strong social connections we can maintain at any point in time, which is called the Dunbar number. However, weak ties can help to increase innovation capacity and the more diverse and number of people we know, the more likely we will be innovative. Trust is the force that makes networks work, and hierarchies and networks are the two dominant forms of organization within and across networks. An individual can build trust over time through the creation of consensus rather than relying on authority to make decisions. The 90:9:1 rule is commonly used, meaning for any community of 100 people, there are approximately 1% who are lead users or innovative, 9% synthesisers who package up the learning of the top 1%, and 90% who consume it. Finally, networks shouldn't be monetized directly, as this can be perceived as poor value. Instead, networking should be monetized indirectly, focusing on the awareness of a service or capability.