The first day of Net Work
by Patti Anklam
It’s been just two years since I sent the final manuscript of NetWork to the publisher and it feels like it is time for a review and refresh. What better time than the new year? In keeping with the season, then, I offer twelve days of Net Work (though I will not make any pretense of keeping to the metre).
The first day? A network mindset, of course. One network lens. We have but to think about how networks underlie all that touches us and put the thinking lens on. It is abundantly clear that networking thinking is coming to the fore. We live on a global interconnected planet, we work in networks and bring our networks to work. We continue to see evidence of the impact of social networks on personal health and even hour happiness).
Understanding the power of networks is not new — successful people have been associated with strong networks for a very long time. What are significant are:
- The application of the pioneer work social scientists and mathemeticians who deployed the power of computer to map, analyze, and derive the principles of the structure of networks.
- The accumulation of evidence through practice (including that of my teachers Rob Cross and Valdis Krebs) that a structural analysis of our organizational and personal networks can lead to insights that will help us better improve, leverage, and sustain them
This view, or the “network lens,” is fundamental to being in the world today.
Thought...
