{"id":4749,"date":"2014-03-26T10:45:52","date_gmt":"2014-03-26T15:45:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/citings\/?p=4749"},"modified":"2015-10-13T13:36:11","modified_gmt":"2015-10-13T18:36:11","slug":"innovation-and-superconnectivity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/clippings\/2014\/03\/26\/innovation-and-superconnectivity\/","title":{"rendered":"Why One Social Network Isn\u2019t Enough for Innovators"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Burt<\/a>
Burt says playing pretend is a useful tool for innovators. Artwork via Blue Sky Innovation. Click for original.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s always someone more ignorant than you!\u201d Ronald Burt, a professor of sociology and strategy at the University of Chicago\u2019s prestigious Booth School of Business is definitely up for looking on the bright side. In fact, that opening mantra? It\u2019s his way of saying maybe there isn\u2019t anything new under the sun—but if it\u2019s new to you<\/i>? You can work with that.<\/p>\n

According to the Chicago Tribune\u2019s<\/i> \u201cBlue Sky Innovation,\u201d Burt says there are two good ways to network that to support your ideas. Those who need to work on nitty gritty improvements—say getting production processes fine-tuned—need \u201cclosure,\u201d or a tight social network of specialists. But those \u201ccharged with innovation need to branch out and build brokerage,\u201d or a diverse network of people and insights from different fields and even different mindsets.<\/p>\n

These superconnective people might be more innovative because they have a broad network, can learn about trends faster than their peers, and they jump on new ideas. The trick is, a broad network can be made up of shallow connections—hand-shakes, Facebook friending, and business card exchanges don\u2019t exactly add up to a huge group of confidants and collaborators.<\/p>\n

What to do? Shallow, but big pool, or small, deep pool?<\/p>\n

Burt thinks you can have it all (remember, he\u2019s a positive guy). Thus, he boils his innovation insights down into four key ideas: branch out, but not without a goal (don\u2019t just read the entire Internet); keep your enemies close (that is, get to know competitors and people who don\u2019t agree with you); set a deadline (\u201cWe all get a say! Before Monday at 3pm!\u201d); and play pretend\u00a0(imagine you\u2019re not an accountant but a psychiatrist; what does the problem look like now?).<\/p>\n