Christakis speaks powerfully on the value of social networks. Beyond the shear elegance and compelling delivery, his thoughts have something for everyone. He eloquently educates the audience on the fundamentals of social networks. But then piles it on to provide stunning implications.
Christakis provides a clear way to look at things differently. For example, the Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology industry and many others they company have for decades been perfecting the art of interacting with the individual customer. In Pharma, huge amounts have been spent detailing individual physicians. In other industries, “mass personalization” embodies this strategy well.
Christakis, shows us how to put a “face on the crowd.” He shows us that a network, a crowd, a company, or even a marketplace cannot be understood by looking at the individual people. He shows us that a network is analogous to a superorganism. A superorganism is group of individual organisms that cannot be studied in isolation. Its necessary to study the bee hive to understand bees. Its necessary to understand the wolf pack to understand wolves. It is necessary to study human groups to understand humans.
Christakis paints a powerful picture that lets us understand that the interactions between people have structure and rules. These lead to powerful insights and redefine how we can interact with those around us. It is not practical to deliver nectar to every bee in a bee hive; yet plant a flower garden and you will be interacting with the entire hive!
For how many decades have we, the pharma industry, been trying to interact with every person in our marketplace. Perhaps its time to work smarter and start using social network analysis to plant a garden and take our go to market strategies to a whole new level of effectiveness.
See also: Boston Globe book review “A new way of thinking about social networks and the world” for Christakis’ “Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives’’
