Your closest friends and colleagues love you. They also know most of the same people you do.
Tip #10, “Cultivate Weak Ties,” from The Luck Field Manual by The Polymath Investor points to one of the most important and counterintuitive findings in network science: the strength of weak ties. Research by sociologist Mark Granovetter famously found that people secured new jobs more often through casual acquaintances than through close friends. Weak ties connect you to different circles, and different circles carry information and opportunities that your immediate network simply does not have.
Who are your weak ties? The people who are one or two steps outside your current orbit. The interesting professional you met once at a conference. The former colleague you stay loosely in touch with. The person in a completely different field who shares one of your interests. These are the people most likely to surprise you with something genuinely new.
Your inner circle is precious. Nurture it. But do not mistake closeness for reach. The most well-connected people I know are not the ones with the tightest inner circles. They are the ones with the broadest, most diverse webs of relationships, full of people who move in worlds different from their own.
The Polymath Investor advises diversifying your network and staying curious about people outside your immediate domain. Have coffee with someone in another industry. Join a group where you are the only person from your field. Attend a conference where you know almost no one.
New insights and opportunities live at the edges of your network. Extend your reach there deliberately.
Happy Networking!
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This post is part of a series inspired by The Luck Field Manual: Rules for Engineering Serendipity by The Polymath Investor. The full manual is well worth your time. Read about it and download it here.