Introduction
In the Societal Web the ability to connect one person to another, to connect a resource to a need, to connect a solution or a product or a service to a business at the right time has become dramatically easier.
Connectors in the Societal Web
In a recent Harvard Business Review, Rosabeth Moss Kanter discussed the power that connectors have on Twitter and in the workplace. One of the points she made was:
Today, people with power and influence derive their power from their centrality within self-organising networks that might or might not correspond to any plan on the part of the designated leaders
This is a really important point. Connectors transcend organisational structures; they work across their networks, be those within their own families, friends, business associates and on social networking platforms like Twitter, Ecademy, and LinkedIn. The best connectors have large, open networks and can identify within them quickly and easily the key resource, knowledge-holder, product, or service to meet a specified need. The connectors with authority as connectors have honed and developed the skills needed to listen well, to identify the issues or needs of the person they’re talking to, and to remember and find the perfect solution for their needs.
One of the things that has been discussed often on Ecademy is whether networks should be large and wide (sometimes called “quantity”), or narrow and deep (often considered to be “quality”). Connectors, especially those who have developed and honed the skill of connecting and creating connectedness (Guanxi, as it is known in China), know that in a large network the perfect, or close to perfect, resource, person, detailed knowledge, authority, product, or service can be found whereas in a narrow ‘quality’ network it’s a better deeper understanding of products, services, knowledge, and people that can be found. In other words, the resources may not be present, but there is knowledge of them through that narrow deep network. Often the deep network is used to validate and test the resource that is found in the wide one, testimonials carry a lot of power as a result. These two things are both required in the skill of connecting, i.e the perfect (or close to it) resource, and a detailed reliable knowledge of it.
Working in the Societal Web
In the Societal Web we’ve progressively outsourced our memories (with history of conversations stored on Social sites) and that enables us to research our networks and refresh our memories of all aspects of each individual’s knowledge, skills, experience, products and services. In a business context it becomes essential for people to maintain their presence in our networks so that the memory of them we have outsourced remains fresh, current and relevant. When individuals contribute to our knowledge and experience (of them) through those social networks but stop maintaining that information and engaging in conversation with us then the information becomes stale and slips from our consciousness.
Connectors never connect stale resources to current needs, and so I think the lesson for those working in the Societal Web, from the thoughts of people like Rosabeth of the Harvard Business Review, and many others is that we need a consistency and persistency of message as people get to know us, to like us, and to follow us.
My own experience is that connecting with great connectors only creates a communication channel, it does not create communication. For the newly opened channel to carry communication it is important that the connector is connected to us in a relationship of trust, and that’s something that takes longer than many people are prepared to give it.
