It's not what you know, but who you know
Research shows that our lives are shaped by our relationships, so are our opportunities.
There's a term that social science academics love to throw around, 'social capital', that for ordinary folk, who don't spend all of their time nose-deep in reference books, seems rather opaque.
One of the definitions for the term is: 'The sum-total of our personal connections, (close and distant) and the networks that they form" - and this 'capital' is a part of a set of six that include human capital, physical capital, intangible capital, financial capital and institutional capital.
But unlike all of the other 'capitals' mentioned here, social capital is almost impossible to measure empirically. And because of this, it is overlook or completely discounted as a relevant lever to be considered by those with any kind of systems design authority.
But now some research has been done on the value of social capital in the UK which has revealed a fascinating connection between the quality of connections and relationships that are intentionally made with others and the opening up of economic opportunities for those concerned.
Revealing Social Capital’s quantitative analysis shows that high levels of connection across socio-economic boundaries are predictors of academic attainment, individual wellbeing and upwards economic mobility.
And where are the best places to build these connections that enable opportunities?
There are five key settings for building social connections:
(1) Education and training facilities.
(2) The workplace.
(3) Sports, leisure and hobby groups.
(4) Arts, music and culture places.
(5) Faith, interfaith activities and faith spaces.
I'm not going to delve too deeply into the nuts and bolts of the research itself (if you are interested, then please do yourself a favour and immerse yourself in the published reports that are linked to at the end of this piece).
The point here is that the intentional building of social capital (purposefully designing and creating spaces, places and events that allow you to mingle, meet and find connection with others) can be a very powerful platform on which to find and create growth opportunities.
Nauseatingly everyone seems to be loosely talking about 'the need to build community' as if it's just yet another channel through which brands can then sell shit, without really understanding that the value of community is more in the possibility of what it allows to emerge.
The old saying is: "It's not what you know, but who you know", that dictates the amount of opportunity available to you - this research goes some way to providing proper evidence to back this concept up.
Getting out there, meeting new people, learning new things, developing curiosity, exploring the unknown are powerful mechanisms that build social capital.
The value is clearly there to justify the time investment to do it.
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