The importance of weak ties The following is based on a great article published by Ian Leslie on 3rd July 2020. Close friends are important – but research shows that building networks of casual acquaintances can boost happiness, knowledge, a sense of belonging and more leveraged financial results. In 1973, Mark Granovetter, a sociology professor at Stanford University, published a paper entitled The Strength of Weak Ties. It went on to become one of the most influential sociology papers of all time. Until then, scholars had assumed that an individual’s well-being depended mainly on the quality of relationships with close friends and family. Granovetter showed that quantity matters, too. One way to think about any person’s social world is that you have an inner circle of people whom you often talk to and feel close with, and an outer circle of acquaintances whom you see infrequently or fleetingly. Granovetter named these categories “strong ties” and “weak ties”. His central insight was that for new information and ideas, weak ties are more important to us than strong ones. Granovetter surveyed 282 Boston-based workers and found that most of them got their jobs through someone they knew. But only a minority got the job through a close friend; 84% got their job through those weak-tie relationships – meaning casual contacts whom they saw only occasionally. As Granovetter pointed out, the people whom you spend a lot of time with, swim in the same pool of information as you do. We depend on friendly outsiders to bring us news of opportunities from beyond our ...
What’s the Primary purpose of the CC? The primary purpose of the CC is to help you. Build a team of Team-building Advocates The larger your team, the larger the number of people advocating for you. The reason advocating networks work so well is that anyone can promote anyone except themselves. We all know how ineffective and uncomfortable it is to try to sell ourselves. On the other hand, we all know how effective it is to advocate for someone we trust to someone we believe will benefit from being connected with them. We also know that opportunities come attached to people within organisations rather than the organisations themselves. The main reason we want to help you build a team of team building advocates is so that you have a greater opportunity to achieve your End goals as well as your means goals. For example, your End Goals may include a desire to develop increased sustainable income with less effort so that you can create more memories, relationships and experiences with your family and closest friends and make a greater difference in the lives of others. Ideas are abundant. Especially technology-related ideas. However, the networks that can make those ideas succeed are not in abundance. As Tim Ferris (the author of the 4-hour workweek) said It is my opinion that if you choose one event properly and you build a network there in the right way, in a methodical way that really focuses on long-term mutual relationships, as opposed to transactions ... you will never have to network again, ever. ...
Why do we focus so much on LinkedIn? Initially, we suggest you speak with people you know who may also be interested in network-building. Workshop 03 is devoted entirely to helping you make a list of good candidates, what to say in a conversation with them and how to invite the suitable candidates to experience the CC. However, the list of people you know is limited, and the list of people your team members know may be even more limited. So, it makes sense to have a process that makes it easy to reach out and meet great candidates using LinkedIn. Let’s say you already have an extensive list of good relationships. In that case, consider reaching out to them and suggesting the possibility of working with them in a proactive, advocating and fun environment. In this environment, you can introduce them to many other people who may be great contacts. Research by Mark Granovetter, a sociology professor at Stanford University, showed the importance of your weak ties. A paper published by professor Granovetter in 1973 about weak ties became one of the most influential sociology papers of all time. Until then, scholars had assumed that an individual’s well-being depended mainly on the quality of relationships with close friends and family. Granovetter showed that quantity matters, too. One way to think about any person’s social world is that you have an inner circle of people you often talk to and feel close with and an outer circle of acquaintances you see infrequently or fleetingly. Granovetter named these categories “strong ties” and “weak ties”. His central insight was that for ...
