god forbade...must reading

Social Networks

   Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler, in their book, Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives, argue that connections affect every aspect of our daily lives, how we feel, what we know, whom we marry, whether we fall ill, how much money we make and whether we vote all depend on the ties that bind us. The authors identify the process of social contagion, which works through transmission from one person to another like a virus. Except social contagion transmits behavior, norms and emotions.

   Christakis and Fowler pose the question that others have about social networks. What can they do for business? They say the key to the answer to that question may revolve around emotions and behaviors that are transmitted through the network. They argue that good emotions spread more effectively than negative ones, contending happiness,

     "may be a kind of social glue, and may be more powerful than unhappiness."

   Christakis and Fowler demonstrated that different behaviors and moods, much like viruses, spread according to different patterns. That our position in a social network has a deep effect on how we fare, concluding, as a rule, people with more friends and connections are h

 

    Connected provides a useful overview of social networks, how they work and why they matter, and can help us understand everything from teenage sexual practices to financial markets.

C  hristakis and Fowler contend that once you understand that emotions and behaviors can be transmitted by contagion, and that the context or environment shapes the transmission, leaders can harness the power of the social network in organizations by deliberately designing teams to optimize the social networks of everyone on it. They say that social networks and the behaviors, feelings and traits they transmit are always present and always functioning, whether organizations are aware of this or not. If they're transmitting good things they could be making the organization stronger and more profitable, and creating a culture where people are happier. If the social networks are dysfunctional or transmitting negative behaviors, feelings and traits, this could damage or destroy the organization and create a culture of dissatisfaction and unhappiness.

   We may be moving into an era, if we're not already there, where social networks, not social and government institutions, wield the real power.

Ray Williams

in Wired for Success

Psychology Today