Three months ago I spent several hours trying to convince my brother, a recent PHD graduate in Bio-Chemistry, how our software (Network Hippo) was valuable for everyone, including science “people”. He was trying to see how it was applicable, but kept explaining that scientists are pretty anti-networking: they avoid talking to people at conferences, don’t hold “mixers”, and rarely go out beyond the lab or the local pub.
They just don’t see networking as part of their DNA – they stand on the merit of their work.
Over the last few months he has been preparing for a move from Montreal to Ottawa. It was a lifestyle choice, and he holds a great job that he can “do from anywhere”. However, his wife is a teacher and they have three kids, so there’s a lot of work setting up a new life in a new city.
This morning he called me and told me that everything is in place: they’ve found a house, his wife has a teaching job, a new school, and childcare for the youngest. He asked me if I remembered the discussion that we had several months ago. ”You know, you were right.” (that may be me editorializing) ”The house was recommended and made possible from a relative, the job interview was setup by a friend, as was the school, a nanny was recommended to us… Everything around our move happened because of our network. I never realized how many people we knew who could help”.
It was their network of family and friends that opened up opportunities and made moving possible. Networking isn’t (just) about attending new events and “schmoozing” by the bar – it’s about keeping in touch with people you know who are willing – even happy – to help.
Do you have any examples of how your network made a difficult move possible?
(PS – reference to moving cheese is based on the book “Who Moved my Cheese” by Spencer Johnson, one of my brother’s favorite books)
image cred to zazzle.
I’m almost positive I’ve never said to Scott, “You know, you were right…”.
He isn’t wrong, though. I had assumed “networking” was something sales people did, or entrepreneurs, or people desperate to find a job. Though I could see that Network Hippo was a powerful app, I assumed that, since I don’t “network”, it didn’t really apply to me.
It was only after the fact, once we had all our ducks lined up for our move, that I realized that “asking around”, “making a few calls”, “getting friends to keep their eyes open”, etc. had helped us navigate every critical facet of the move – finding a job, getting a house, finding school and childcare. We hadn’t placed or answered ads in the paper, we had asked our friends and relationships to help out – we had “networked”.
I realized that my “network” isn’t limited to my scientific colleagues with whom I’m rarely in contact, and “using my network” isn’t limited to finding new business and research opportunities. My network includes friends from high school, co-workers from 10-years ago summer camp, and my wife’s extended family, among so many others. These people and, impressively, *friends* of these people whom we’ve never met, were able to help us navigate challenges that had nothing to do with my work. Though I didn’t realize it, networking made it all possible.
Now that I see the value of my network, I’m excited about making it tangible and easier to use for all sorts of things. Though we were ultimately successful, my networking “strategy” simply involved casual mentions in conversation, or directed emails to whatever people happened to come to mind. A tool that allows me to survey my network in one shot, and quickly identify people who might be able to help with whatever comes up, will be of great use.
If I could make a suggestion for the Hippo, though, maybe there could be a tab so I can see which of my contacts are most likely to want to volunteer to help me move? And I don’t mean my cheese. I mean furniture. Anyone?