Google+ and ‘The +1 problem’

Some years ago I managed to go from a relatively healthy 14 stone up to a less than comfortable 21 stone. The strangest thing is that I didn’t realise it at the time. The reason this happened is because of the +1 syndrome. Typically it would be one more wine gum won’t hurt me, one more can of beer isn’t a problem, one more rib and so on. The invisible hand of the ‘+1’ problem meant that I crept up to a dangerous weight and essentially became fat and bloated. Because of this my life slowed to a crawl as I was just unfit and fat.

The strange thing is that I see this same effect in the way that people manage their professional networks. There is a seemingly huge race to acquire as many contacts as possible on Facebook, LinkedIn or Google+. In the same way that just one more wine gum gave me a quick hit of sugar – the just one more network contact can give us a give ego boost and a sense that we are loved by the world. But the end result is often a fat and bloated professional network. It may be large in size but will be limited in usefulness.

I tried to address this issue in my book on personal networking. This pulls together a number of theoretical ideas about the development of social networks and how they might be used to map a your personal or professional network. In this article

I want to move from mapping what our networks look like to understand how we make choices, who to include in the network and how to avoid the +1 problem of network density.

My argument is that a lot of the networking choices are intrinsic and innate.  We find it easy to say yea to a new networking request without really thinking about the value it will add and the extent to which it will bloat our social capital. The risk is we run the risk of creating a professional networking system that rapidly becomes unmanageable and of little personal value. The +1 effect tends to occur where we add just one more name to our network without really thinking through why we have pushed the accept button and what the consequence will be. Just think – when you get that friend request – what criteria do you use to either accept of reject the enquiry.

So how do we naturally and instinctively form social networks? There are many reasons we form tribal groupings – but in simple terms people often make a choice to include someone in their group according to their fit with the following criteria:

·       Profession: It is very easy and comforting to be with people that we know and trust. Because we spend so long with work colleagues it can be very easy to slip from a work based relationship to a network relationship. But from a networking perspective – your work colleagues are about the past and present – networking is about the projected and where you are going. If your network system is clogged with today’s people how will you find time to manage the tomorrow people?

·       Personality: Sometimes we want to spend time with people because we like them. We might not share the same hobbies, skills or goals –we might just enjoy their company. The trouble is that professional networking is about shared success and ensuring that both parties gain from the relationship. It is not about finding drinking buddies or people to have fun with. That is better allocated to the “friends circle” and kept away from the professional circle.

·       Proximity – if I were walking through the outback of Australia and suddenly came across someone from my hometown – the chances are that I would get a rush of comfort. That sense of shared connection, place and experiences can form an important driver that stimulates the creation of network nodes. Because someone is near they must be important and so can be included on my network. If the goal of your professional network is to get to know your local town better – then it may be a laudable criterion. But if your goal is to build a professional network that will help with your career – then maybe having two thirds of your network group who all live within a mile might be someone self defeating.

·       Purpose: Think about that thing which is important to you. It might be spending time on a charitable cause, working on a local campaign or simply being member of a sports team. The binding force between these people will be their purpose or that thing that find important and are working towards achieving. Building a network structure around purpose is important. But if your network only consists of these people then it will lack diversity and richness. What happens when your goals change and you want to take like in a new direction? Having to create a whole new group of network contacts is massively time consuming and may prevent you from being successful. Also keep a few obscure contacts in your network that have little or nothing to do with your purpose in life – it keeps it fresh and open to new opportunities.

·       Passion: This might be a member of a rock group, people who love to play golf or maybe a desire to play chess in a local club. The binding force within the network is driven by passion and a heart felt desire to spend time on something they love. The one risk of being surrounded by passionate people is that love blinds people and can prevent them from making sensible decisions. It is this very problem that can be seen in politics where leaders surround themselves with people who share a similar passion for a new project, war or campaign. They often end up making silly decisions because they believe their own hype. By all means draw people with passion into your network – but ensure that you keep a level of sensibility in the network structure to avoid making a bad professional choice.

Why do we need to understand the subtle choice criteria that impact how we form social networks? One of the hard facts about the development of a robust and valuable network structure is that the law of diminishing returns will kick in. The greater the number of people in your network the less time and energy you will be able to offer each person. Although technology is often offered as a solution to this – in my experience it makes it worse because we simply end up with a greater number of people in our network – namely because we don’t like to say no to a network request.

This is so clearly evidenced in the current climate. As people worry about their jobs and careers so the number of invites I receive to the online networking groups is increasing each week. But as these people augment their groups then need to consider whom have they invited and what will they do with the connections once in place.

Before sending out yet another online invitation to join Google+ then just think about why you are including them in your circle of contacts. If you are simply building a network of friends and effectively using Google+ or Facebook as an inline contact book - then fire away celebrate when you hit the magical 1000 friends. But if you are seeking to grow your professional network and pt. it to good use then think carefully about who is in your network and how you plan to use the connection.

With each network connection ask:

·       Why have you sent/received the invite?

·       What value exists for you in the connection?

·       What value exists for them?

·       What shared and compound value can be created?

·       Make sure that you are not just connecting because of the Personality, Profession, Proximity, Passion and Purpose preferences?

The demise of the job for life, final salary pension plan and the emergence of global markets means that all jobs (even those with a guaranteed contract) are effectively 6-month contracts. No job can offer anything more concrete than that. You personal security and capacity to feed your family or buy the latest Porsche rest on a combination of what you know and whom you know. The ‘Job’ died many years ago. We are all contractors now.

If your professional network is fat and bloated and full of irrelevance then it will hinder rather than help with any career development you plan to undertake. Treat your network with the same love, care and attention that you would your new Porsche. Check it every week, clean it regularly (weed out the dead contacts) and make sure you keep it topped up with lubricant (new network contacts).

Don’t forget – what you know (your talent) and whom you know (your network) are under your control and no one else’s. You own these so make sure you use them wisely.

 Mick Cope