Some of you may know that I'm a bit of a nerd when it comes to business and management theory and the study of organizational design, strategy, and various other business topics.  In fact, I'm even considering the pursuit of a PhD in Business at some point the near future.

One hot topic out there in the academic world is that of "Social Network" theory.  The theory basically states that organizations are made up of a series of "social networks" in which various employees are linked to each other by some form or fashion.  They call the relationships "dyadic" which just means they are linked in some way.  For example,

• Employee A is the boss of employee B. 
• Employee B went to college with Empoyee C. 
• Employee C is dating the son of Employee D. 
• Employee D goes to church with Employee A. 

Many conclusions about organizational design, productivity, competition, advancement, etc. can be derived from the way these various social networks interact.  It's not an exact science to be sure, but there are some trends and impacts that can be measured. 

So that's a very brief, and overly-simplistic view of Social Networks.

One of the key contributors to the body of knowledge in this field is Ronald Burt.  He has refined components of this theory down to genious mathematical computations (some of which are so complex - I can only understand the "dummies" version).  And while these models can never be exact because, after all, we're dealing with people...they can tell us a lot of things about how we interact in our own networks. 

Probably the largest contribution that Burt has made to the field is in developing the theory of "structural holes" in networks.  The theory holds that in organizations (church, business, school, etc.) that people's networks tend to overlap - but there are often gaps.  For example...Employee A may not be as close to Employee C as he needs to be in order to maximize productivity.  That is a "structural hole."  But Employee B may be able to bridge a good bit of that gap...so this puts a large amount of power in the position of Employee B.  Again, the theory is really more complex than this - but this is enough info to put some of you to sleep as it is.

And the point of all this is...

All of us have "structural holes" in our life in one form or another.   We do this in social relationships all the time.  Maybe we want to be friends with a more popular person - so we manipulate our contacts with someone else to pull us closer to the popular crowd.  Or perhaps we find ourselves positioned to benefit from our placement in one of those structural holes and use our position or knowledge to gain an advantage for ourselves at some cost to someone else.  

I doubt many of us walk though life constantly analyzing the ways in which we manipulate our social networks.  And who would?  That would be a boring existence!

But I do think, like many other aspects of our life, we ought to periodically examine our motives and actions in the various relationships we maintain.  Are we doing it primarily to benefit ourselves...or others?

Businesses have a right to maximize the return on social networks.  They should maximize productivity and profitability - so long as it's responsible and ethical to do so. 

But as people - we are called to put others before ourselves.  We should use our social networks for the greater good - not for our own benefit.  The more I think of this...the more scary it becomes...because I know I think of myself first way too much of the time.  How many decisions, phone calls, emails, or even friendly hellos have been offered over the years out of a benefit to myself...and not the other person?  

I can't really say.  I'm not sure I want to know that answer.