To many of us who are 40 years of age or older, sites such as Facebook, MySpace and maybe even LinkedIn might seem to be the provence of teenagers and twenty-somethings; but Technology Review is running an interesting article entitled ”Mapping Professional Networks.” In short, it discusses how a new tool which IBM has developed is allowing users to better analyze their business and professional relationships.
In other words instead of using social networking to simply stay abreast of your friends latest activity or to find out what everyone is doing on Friday night, this new social networking tool collects and analyzes information about professional relationships.
Among the things it might be useful for is determining how well two companies are integrating after a merger by discerned how often people from the merging companies are contacting one another. It could also be used to assess how often salespeople are staying in touch with all of their customers, or whether the salespeople have solid relationships with the technical experts within their own company. (This latter information could help determine if the salesperson is staying on top of all the technical aspects of a given product.) The technology could even be used by medical professionals to ensure they are staying abreast of the latest developments in their field.
One aspect of the technology that might not be readily apparent is that it could also be used to scour distant relationships for new ideas or different opinions. As wonderful as this social networking technology is, one of my concerns is that it could simply strengthen those relationships that are already quite strong. To jump the curve, however, it is imperative that the Exponential Executive keep his or her mind open to new ideas—and often the truly innovative, breakthrough ideas come from people outside of the mainstream. One way to make sure you are keeping your eyes on the horizon is to check how often you are spending time listening to those voices on the fringe—and this technology can help you exactly that.
Jack Uldrich is a writer, futurist, public speaker and host of jumpthecurve.net. He is the author of seven books, including Jump the Curve and The Next Big Thing is Really Small: How Nanotechnology Will Change the Future of Your Business. He is also a frequent speaker on future technology and future trends, nanotechnology, innovation, change management and executive leadership to a variety of businesses, industries and non-profit organizations and trade associations.
