I had the opportunity to have an article published in Utah Business Magazine. It’s about the role of Empathy on Innovation. It’s not the first time I address the subject of Empathy , but I sincerely want to thank Melanie Paris Jones for the opportunity to do so in a key platform of the business community in my home state like Utah Business.
Networks and Communities
While on the subject of networks, I’m going to assume that you have access to #linkedin if you’re reading this article. And by doing so you’re probably familiar with the workings of a network. On Webster's we have as one if its definitions:
Network - noun (net·work): a usually informally interconnected group or association of persons (such as friends or professional colleagues)
Networks associate us with other people or groups. They form connections that can provide information useful to us.
Networks can be formed by simple facts of having commonalities. Having common interests and preferences in any subject (like being a comic nut or rooting for a football team).
This is the very representation of the saying Birds of a feather flock together. Believe it or not, it has a name. It's called Homophily.
Homophily is a technical name in Human Networks Science (yeah, it's a thing and it's heavy on math y'all). Some of my favorite authors in this field are Ron Burt and Albert-Laszlo Barabasi. If you want to read a good primer on Human Network Science, check out the book "Friend of A Friend" by Dr. David Burkus.
Networks have been crucial in human history, and they can have major influence on one's career, social status and even our proclivity to end up in jail. A saying in Españoldefines it better:
Dime con quién andas y te diré quién eres.
("Tell me who you're with and I'll tell you who you are")
Networks can provide you with the ability to get to places you couldn't have gone before (take it from the immigrant son of a musician and a secretary from a third-world nation). They can provide crucial information and opportunities to advance in your career.
Curiously, according to Social Network studies, said opportunities lie usually not with someone you know, but with someone who knows who you know...
That was lame. I can hear the crickets now... I can do better than that.
Ok, in simpler terms, in your networks you have the people YOU know directly. They are connected to you in the "first degree". The people THEY are connected with constitute your connections in the "second degree" within your network. For some reason they called these connections "weak ties".
Why is this important? Because studies have suggested that opportunities regarding your career, business and information usually come from those "weak ties". Yes, within your network you have members in the "second degree" that can benefit you greatly.
In even simpler terms, just like the title of Burkus' book, a "friend of a friend" might have the ability to help you in your professional journeys.
Hence, the power of expanding your network.
A Network of Innovators
Probably the most powerful feature of a network is its ability to share ideas within it. When ideas flow easily within the network, its members have the ability to connect the flowing with pre-established notions. They have the ability to combine ideas in different ways, to see new perspectives and ways to solve problems. The result is the emergence of new ideas, the creation of new solutions, and the collective knowledge of the network is increased.
Therein lies the seed of innovation 💡, Mi Gente.
But being part of a network does not guarantee the flow of ideas and innovation being a feature of your network. I believe there's a specific type of network that makes it easier for this to happen.
Enter "THE COMMUNITY".
A Special Type of Network
Networks are usually represented as a graph of dots connected by lines. Each dot represents an individual member of a network and it's called a "node". Each line represents the connection or "tie" nodes have among them.
Networks can take different shapes, depending on the number of nodes and "interconnectedness" among them (that's a word, I didn't make it up).
There's a particular shape that I'd like to focus on. When the nodes of a network can be easily grouped into an arrangement of nodes, and in such an arrangement the nodes are densely connected, it's said we are witnessing the graph of a COMMUNITY.
A community graph is usually represented as something like this...
Communities - The Real Deal
Community is a concept that is being used lightly in business content these days. Entrepreneurs and managers use it as a fancy substitute for the word customer, trying to give the illusion that by acquiring their service or product, a sense of belonging will be created automatically.
I don't buy that 😑.
Communities can indeed give us context and a sense of belonging. It can fill that need of human connection and can even provide purpose and intention in our lives. But there are several conditions that I believe need to be present in a network.
Did you notice how the nodes within these clusters were closely interrelated? How can that apply in real life? I can think of several ways:
- A significant number of members of the community do know each other: Bonds are created in a community. It's not simply being a member of a group or network. Members know of their members and know their members. It is safe to assume that many of them initiated the relationship by allowing themselves to be known and being open enough to be so. Most importantly, TRUST is present among the members (in varying degrees, of course). There's an implicit understanding that you won't be harmed by being part of the community. I can't think of a better example than my own LinkedIn community. I really hope you feel like you're a significant part of it. If not, please, let me know what I can do to make it happen.
- The members of a community have a constant flow of information or have the potential to establish a continuous flow of information: LinkedIn anyone? Notice how this and other social channels of communication were constantly open and allowed for information to be shared. Furthermore, members feel empowered to share information without negative consequences (It's called Psychological Safety, people! Follow Amy Edmondsonif you want to learn about it). In strong communities, adverse factors in conversations or exchanges are addressed. How are interruptions/outages of the flow of information smoothed over and/or dealt with in your communities? Are conversations enabled and kept alive? Are exchanges performed optimally? What's making them perform the way they are?
- An event in a node or small group of nodes will cause a distinct effect in the rest of the community: A significant number of updates of information would affect the members at the individual level at first. But the flow of information is so smooth at the Community Stage, that it affects the network significantly and forms a collective event. Similarly, many of these updates reach Critical Mass periodically. Think of the events that have affected your communities and the reaction these events get. Has the information flowed rapidly?
- There's reciprocity: At the Community Stage of a network the connection among the members reflects their investment to interact with each other. Trust has developed in a way that allows for the flow of information to go two ways. Relationships have deepened enough to allow for mutual interest to take place, cooperation is fostered. Think of those occasions when you've decided to interact with acquaintances (not only friends) because of a common interest/preference/perceived benefit.
- Altruistic behavior has emerged or been adopted: Whether it's temporarily or periodically among the members. This behavior has been imitated/reproduced. Can you think of those leaders/influencers who's about helping and not just calling attention to themselves? Can you think of members of a community who offer information to benefit others? (I'm talking to you Robbyn Scribner, Paul Shin 🌮 and Nate Randle !).
We've touched so far on the ways a network can become a community. How can these conditions be applied to your own networks? Would you like to share with us some of the communities you belong to? How do they make you feel you belong? I know we can learn from it.
In the meantime, have a great day, Mi Gente.
