When I started to read and look into concepts in the reader, I thought it best to start at the beginning because I am definitely finding I like structure and to follow a plan.
After looking I found Cooperation was described as a work related community held together by close working affiliation or more distant but common work interests or needs.
I think this does describe my network but the “glue” that keeps it together for me is the friendship I have gained through a common work interest. I find that the first contact for me is through work. Once I become “friends” I then feel I can join their network. Perhaps it is time for me to try and join a network where I don’t know anyone?
When I am brutally honest and critical of myself I know that location affects the efficiency of my network. If it is not convenient I find an excuse not to engage and most of my network activity is face to face. On reflection I realise I need to make more of an effort to travel.
Common interest is a definite pull for me and the reader describes a professional network as a group who have a common interest. I feel comfortable in other peoples company talking about a common purpose and I would go the extra mile to meet up. But why does it have to be a common interest? If I were brave perhaps I should make more effort to network with people who have different interests and just suck it up, who knows I might actually like it, learn something new and it might open some new doors.
I had a go at the prisoners dilemma game, playing the game did help me make sense of the theory. I liked the results and did find it interesting:
o When I cooperated all the way through we both ended up with the same score
o When I cooperated mostly with the occasional compete – I got a higher score than my last game and my opponent. My opponents score was not much lower when we both cooperated
o When I competed the whole way through, I was instantly ahead but my opponent started to compete as well, so our scores were much lower (less than half the previous scores)
I know it’s only a game but my gut feel is you achieve more by cooperating but there are times when you have to be a little selfish. The trick is knowing when to be selfish and when to be nice. At this point in time I don’t plan to change but I do need to think more about the right time and place to compete.
In the extract from Axelrod it mentions that human behaviour is guided by our genetic inheritance. Hofstede also mentions culture as a factor to our need for affiliation.
“Genetic inheritance is the transmission of genetic material from parent to offspring. Almost all physical traits and many personality traits and unique abilities are found in the genes”
I have been bought up in a large extended family and we have strong values. Here are a few things that our family supports:
o “family comes first”
o “don’t start a fight, just finish it”
o “Never go to bed on an argument”
So does my upbringing position me to be more cooperative than competitive? I have friends who are single children and their family is not very close. They are happy on their own and their need for affiliation is significantly less than mine. Are these the type of people who easily network and don’t rely on the need for friendship to keep it together?
I wonder if I had been bought up in more competitive environment (nature vs. nurture) would I be more aggressive and proactive with my networking. This course is definitely making me realise I did actually know a lot about myself and understanding the theory helps me realise there are many other ways of working all I need to do is try them.
I form close relationships in my network and I like to have a network of support so for me Affiliation is very close to my heart. I like a sense of involvement, I like belonging to something. I tend to seek approval from those I have good relationships with and see a lot. The other interesting thing is I like to think of myself as a supportive member of the team. I am happy to work with people and let them lead but I think lack the “competitive thing” I need to think about not being so passive and possibly taking the lead more.
I can’t really argue with the Crisp, J & Turner, R. (2007 pp266-268) extract. I do think my upbringing makes me want to affiliate. I agree culture and nurturing will influence the desire to affiliate and the way you do it e.g. must have an element of friendship & cooperation. I have always said I do not like being alone. I am not always comfortable being by myself for too long, but I do now appreciate some ‘me’ time. I think the secret to success is controlling it, not feeling obliged to affiliate so that you don’t get the feeling of being overcrowded or isolated. I understand and have the two types of affiliation, one where it is complimented by close friendship the other where it is a more professional relationship. I think the extract from Crisp and Turner really resonates with me and I agree. I think it is a natural thing to have people around, we are not solitary beings and personally I use my network when I am in need.
I think networks are important both in personal and professional lives and having close relationships is needed for survival (reproduction in the most basic term). But I do think in our professional lives networks make things more enjoyable. If you are happy with the people around you as well as the work it must help.
It is really important to keep a network fresh and stimulating. There are lots of ways of doing this:
o Helping younger or less experienced people can make you feel better about yourself. It is a way of transferring knowledge so that someone else can benefit from your own experience. (I don’t do this enough but do when the opportunity arises)
o Leaving a network when it no longer works for you (I don’t actually leave I just meet less frequently)
o Introducing new people into the network ( I do this)
o Starting new ones up ( I haven’t purposely started a new network but I do through mutual friends link in with other people)
o Cross fertilising networks (doing it all the time it a natural thing for performers)
o Making sure that my self-marketing is fresh and up to date (Must tackle this soon)
Social Constructionism was the concept I found hard going. I think it was saying a network is not a network until I or some else calls it a network. I thought an example would be me calling something a network that someone else might call a friendship and vice versa. I can’t argue with this but it does make me think that I need to be more aware of what people are trying to get out of any situation.
The reader refered to Connectivism as:
‘In relation to professional networks the theory of Connectivism provides an explanation about how networks provide the means for individuals to connect and learn from and within the network’ (reader)
So it is not just people I have learnt from. Connectivism is about using my network of people with my network of resource s. The internet is probably the most common way now that people connect. The “half life of knowledge” made me think. I know things change quickly but I never thought about how some knowledge gained can soon become obsolete. It made me think about being less possessive and more open to new approaches.
People I have learnt from and gained knowledge from were just stepping stones and now it is easy to connect these with technology and make sense of it all. In my head it looks a bit like an underground tube map! I have learnt to build on the information and adapt it to make sense to me. When I first read the reader I thought how dumb am I? But as I reread and started to make more sense of it I realised I do quite a lot of this. I am a very structured person but I cope very well with chaos and I am getting better at it.
Communities of Practise is common sense to me but the reader describes it in a theoretical way. Dancers are members of many communities of practice, a cast is one, we all learn through our experience and working together.
I am finding I do so many things naturally that I did not even think about before. I need to sit down and draw myself a map of how far I’ve come and the connections I have made.
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