The type of network you have is an important predictor of your success.
- An open network is defined as one where you are the link between people from different clusters. It is a diverse network.
- A closed network is defined as one where you are connected to people who are similar and often already know each other.
The Booth School of Business in Chicago performed a study that linked business success with networks. They were able to prove that the more open your network is, the more success you will have, and the more closed your network is, the less success you will have.
The study showed that most people tend to follow a pattern of creating closed networks as time goes on. However, the people who focused on keeping their networks open had more business and career success than those who allowed their networks to close.
The research used many examples and mapped out the networks of many people. Their data included demographics, age, gender, and even industry. They were very comprehensive in the efforts. Every examination of someone’s network proved that the more open someone’s network is, the more successful they were. They were able to show that their findings were not limited to a single instance or group of instances.
Just like you cannot appreciate the day without having night, it is harder to appreciate the power of an open network without understanding the limitations of a closed network. In a closed network, everyone knows each other. When strangers are thrown together in a single group, they do not remain in one cohesive unit. Like-minded people naturally gravitate toward each other to create smaller groups. They tend to pair off and segregate themselves with the people they get along with – people that think and act alike.
Each one of these smaller units represents a closed network. These are people with whom you have built a rapport with – people you trust, people you spend time with, and people you turn to when issues come up. By limiting yourself to this smaller group of people, you have naturally created a closed network. Habits will formulate within the group making fresh ideas foreign. Closed networks remain within the realm of people’s comfort zones.
People segregate themselves according to religion, political beliefs, and even in the industries in which they work. Because of the time spent in closed networks, other behavior patterns begin to form. Your group will have unspoken rules, expectations, and a defined way of life. Everyone you hang around with and spend time with becomes comfortable and predictable because of how their beliefs and their systems of doing things reflects and validates your own.
People in open networks face very different challenges and opportunities than those in closed networks. Because they are often the hub that connects different types of closed networks, they have unique experiences, relationships, and knowledge that is not openly available to those who are in closed networks. The most challenging aspect of being part of an open network is feeling like an outsider. Those with open networks do not inherently belong to one network or another. Instead, they are required to take their unique knowledge and experiences and assimilate them into one comprehensive perspective.
Despite the challenges and the risks of having an open network, the benefits are equally unique and rewarding. Due to their broad perspective, their view of the world is much more accurate. They can take information from various other closed networks and put them together for a greater understanding.
Another benefit includes the ability to control the timing of conveyed and transmitted information from one group to another. By possessing knowledge and ideas foreign to certain closed networks, you have the opportunity to introduce new information when the timing is right. By serving as a connector and translator between different closed networks, your value can increase as you act as the interface between two groups who otherwise would never connect. People with open networks can take all of this information and create new ideas that may be foreign to all the groups they may be connected to.
In an interview for Wired Magazine in 1995, Steve Jobs had this to say about creativity.
Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something.
