ENRICH 토토사이트 프리미어토토R SOCIAL CAPITAL WITH THE RIGHT SOCIAL NETWORKS
DBR | 1호 (2008년 1월)
By KAREN CHO
From INSEAD Knowledge (http://knowledge.insead.edu)
Networking is not all that it's cracked up to be; in fact it can even be downright harmful, so says Martin Gargiulo, an associate professor of organizational behavior at INSEAD and expert on social network analysis.
"We know today that networks are an asset that helps 토토사이트 프리미어토토 get things done ... (but) networks can also be a liability," says Gargiulo.
At best, networks can be a window to the world that allows 토토사이트 프리미어토토 to understand and work with the diversity and the complexity of that world. At worst, they can be "blinders" that prevent 토토사이트 프리미어토토 from doing so.
"If 토토사이트 프리미어토토r network is composed of people like 토토사이트 프리미어토토, people who all talk to each other -- what scholars call a "dense" network -- 토토사이트 프리미어토토're pretty sure 토토사이트 프리미어토토 understand what's going on in the rest of the organization, but in fact 토토사이트 프리미어토토're recycling the same information ... The illusion of multiple views confirms 토토사이트 프리미어토토r own views. But, at some point, 토토사이트 프리미어토토 find out to 토토사이트 프리미어토토r surprise that what 토토사이트 프리미어토토 thought was obvious to everybody, is only obvious to 토토사이트 프리미어토토 and the people 토토사이트 프리미어토토 talk to," Gargiulo explains.
That is not to say that all dense networks are bad. At work, for example, Gargiulo says that if 토토사이트 프리미어토토 have a team that forms a dense network of like-minded individuals, it will be an important resource toward achieving 토토사이트 프리미어토토r professional goals. But 토토사이트 프리미어토토 also need a sparse network to bridge outside that team into the larger organization. Otherwise, 토토사이트 프리미어토토r team may become isolated and unable to get the support it needs to get things done.
"토토사이트 프리미어토토 need to understand the trade-off between a dense, homogenous network, which can be very comforting and very helpful in a moment of crisis, for example, and a sparse network that allows 토토사이트 프리미어토토 to reach throughout the organization and beyond. 토토사이트 프리미어토토 do want to have that closely knit support network around 토토사이트 프리미어토토 when 토토사이트 프리미어토토're facing bad times. But it can also be a liability unless 토토사이트 프리미어토토 combine it with a sparse network that goes beyond that close support group."
STRONG VERSUS WEAK TIES
One key to making networking work for 토토사이트 프리미어토토, according to Gargiulo, is to differentiate between what network scholars call "strong ties" and "weak ties."
"I like to use the metaphor that networks are like copper or electrical wires. The thicker the wire, the more power it carries; the more 토토사이트 프리미어토토 can help people, the more people will be willing to invest time and energy in helping 토토사이트 프리미어토토 out."
But that also makes strong ties costly and, like thick wires, they may not be necessary to keep a relationship going.
Gargiulo cautions against having too wide a network because maintaining all those relationships can detract from the ones that truly matter. He recommends distilling one's network to a core group of "between 20 and 30 ... and sometimes even smaller; 15 or 20," depending on how sociable the person is. These people may change over time (some ties become stronger, some weaker), but there is always a core network that matters, and 토토사이트 프리미어토토 need to nurture those ties.
"When 토토사이트 프리미어토토 look at websites like LinkedIn, which can be extremely useful, 토토사이트 프리미어토토 very quickly see that some people that have huge networks of 400-500 contacts. When 토토사이트 프리미어토토 study what's going on in those networks, in fact only a very small number of ties are active, in the sense that 토토사이트 프리미어토토 actually exchange things with them because maintaining relationships takes time."
A SYSTEMATIC APPROACH
To help people better understand the complexities of networking, and subsequently calibrate their own networks to optimal levels, Gargiulo has developed a tool in the form of a social capital questionnaire. 토토사이트 프리미어토토 answer the questionnaire online and can get a personalized report comparing 토토사이트 프리미어토토r network with a reference group of 토토사이트 프리미어토토r choice.
He explains: "The report walks 토토사이트 프리미어토토 through the composition, the strength of 토토사이트 프리미어토토r relationships, and how 토토사이트 프리미어토토r contacts relate to one another, discussing the pros and cons of different types of networks. It also analyses what kind of resources 토토사이트 프리미어토토 get from these contacts -- how important, how critical those people are for 토토사이트 프리미어토토."
"One of the things that we learn very clearly in the network analysis research is that those relationships are as consequential for what happens to 토토사이트 프리미어토토, for 토토사이트 프리미어토토r ability to get things done and for how 토토사이트 프리미어토토 think and how 토토사이트 프리미어토토 view the world, as the relationships that 토토사이트 프리미어토토 have with each other."
For example, Gargiulo says 토토사이트 프리미어토토 may think 토토사이트 프리미어토토 have a relationship that does not seem to be very important. But before relegating that relationship to the back burner, 토토사이트 프리미어토토 can, with the help of this questionnaire, evaluate if that person is well connected to everybody in 토토사이트 프리미어토토r network. If so, 토토사이트 프리미어토토 will then be pre-empted to keep this "critical" relationship alive, because whatever 토토사이트 프리미어토토 don't do in that relationship may affect the rest of 토토사이트 프리미어토토r network.
Ultimately, no one is an island. "토토사이트 프리미어토토 have 토토사이트 프리미어토토r own abilities and experience, but 토토사이트 프리미어토토 also have -- and this is crucial for today's jobs -- all the experience, ability (and) knowledge that resides with people in 토토사이트 프리미어토토r network."
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