O segredo para as grandes oportunidades? A pessoa que você ainda não conheceu

So many working people today describe feeling stuck: they are looking for opportunities either within their workplace or in other organizations, and ways to repurpose their skills. Professor Herminia Ibarra presents many fascinating stories of reinvention and offers ideas as you think about your networks and the psychological factors that may be holding you back from using them.

When the Frenchman Alexis De Tocqueville visited America in the 1700s, he was struck by the voluntary associations that held American communities together. Professor Robert Putnam’s classic book documents the loss of these types of cross-cutting ties that bind the American social fabric together. The title refers to the decline in bowling leagues in America, as more people bowl alone. These micro-level, interpersonal patterns translate into macro-level implications as society becomes atomized and polarized.

A brilliant book on how we can quantify social relationships, and predict behavioral patterns and idea flow in society.

Networking is psychologically aversive for a number of reasons. Our research focuses on the stress of stepping outside your comfort zone, asking for others for opportunities and resources and being rejected. Professors Casciaro, Gino and Kouchacki show that people are also held back because it feels morally repugnant to see people instrumentally, rather than as ends unto themselves. In this wonderful article, the authors frame networking via a different mindset: that of learning. Don’t think "networking," think "learning." Your relationships educate you about, not just about opportunities and resources, but about other lives, perspectives and your many possible selves and roles.

A practical guide to think more intentionally about how you build the relationships around you and you manage your career.

A practical guide to think about how network analysis can be used to address managerial challenges

This academic article focuses on the trade-offs of having cooperation/safety in a dense network and the flexibility of being in a network that is rich in diversity. Professor Martin Gargiulo is also known for developing a validated social capital survey that allows you to learn about the networks of relationships you have accumulated in your life and career and potential opportunities to develop that network. Unlike an organizational chart, your social network is often hidden, and you can understand your own position in an organization via this tool.