The Black Book is Dead

It’s true: California drivers are really out of their element when it rains. There’s a small Pontiac careening towards me on the oil slicked freeway as my iPhone rings.

By the second ring, the Pontiac has cleared my front fender by barely an inch (and a prayer) and is now urgently maneuvering to the carpool lane, dragging some piece of its unfortunate carriage against the asphalt. This is a feat of precision driving that will undoubtedly spread terror among the populace of the carpool lane in short order. This is impressive stunt driving, made even more so by the driver’s skill at simultaneously applying makeup. As expected, the double yellow line is no match for this feat of daring-do and the car wobbles into the carpool lane and accelerates away to jeopardize someone else’s life.

The phone rings a last time. I answer the call. The voice on the other end is incredulous. It’s a good friend of mine…a survivor of the dot.com era who has since gone on to form his own successful Los Angeles-based consulting company, Laminar Consulting.

"Dude, you share all of your contacts on LinkedIn?"

Most of my long commutes aren’t terribly eventful. Truth be told, I’m one of those rare, demented individuals who enjoys my time on the freeway or the metro. It represents  alone time to catch up on the latest audible.com audio book, listen to a favorite pod cast or completely butcher a favorite song by attempting to sing it — out loud. I avoid this last activity on the metro, for obvious reasons.

Commuting is also a good time to catch up with colleagues and friends and have a good chat. This was going to be one of those times.

"Hey Sean, yes, why?"

We’ve both been in sales. We both understand the intrinsic value of being able to pick up the phone and connect with someone we need to. But there are elements to access, privacy and sharing of contact information that tend to polarize people. Some believe in keeping their contact database private and others share freely.

Increasingly, I believe this choice is disappearing.

The Black Book Is Dead

Not long ago, individuals derived a significant portion of their influence and power through their private black books. They functioned as the gatekeepers to others. Today, the ability to reach someone still has its place in the grand scheme of the social hierarchy, but the ability of one person to block another from gaining easy access to contact information is all but gone.

Services such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Plaxo, Jigsaw, Spoke and others have helped to redefine the value of contact information. To be sure, there is still tremendous value in relationships and personal recommendations. Ask a salesperson what the fastest way to a sale is and he will reply swiftly: "a referral." But for individuals seeking new connections (entrepreneurs starting in business) a newly created access eliminates many of the roadblocks once encountered and unveils new opportunities like never before.

Full Disclosure

One of the ironies is that even a generous friend who will readily recommend an associate won’t be as helpful as one that will simply hand over their contact database for you to freely examine. The reason is simple. As a young business owner just starting out, I cannot count the number of times I found myself in a situation where I was presented with a handout from a colleague.

"Here, why don’t you contact Jim? I think he would be terrific for you to meet and he would be good connection to have. He works at XYZ Corporation."

I would call Jim. He might be a good contact. But later that month, I would meet someone else, who was much more aligned with what I was trying to accomplish and could benefit much more from our association. I would learn, some weeks later, that this person was a close friend of my colleague. But my friend would never have thought to connect us. Nobody can possibly know what you need–only you can. This is one of the reasons I freely share contact information from networkers who connect with me online. This doesn’t mean, of course, that I publish information without consent from my contacts – or that I ignore those who would have me retain their privacy. But in the cases of LinkedIn and other services in which you’re connecting with others who presumably wish to network, I fail to see the reason to privately hoard information.

There is also a handsome side-effect to providing information freely. It puts you at the center of the action, which is always a beneficial place to be.

Weak Ties & Innovation

I mention LinkedIn, because it happens to be one of the stronger sources of business contacts I’ve encountered online. At the time of this writing I have over 500 personal (or one-degree) connections, which in turn yield over 181,200 second-degree connections and a total of 5,981,000 third-degree connections. Since yesterday, April 19th, I’ve added over 5,540 new people in my network. These numbers are astonishing, even if you’re someone who has been involved with the Internet and social networking for years.

[On a lark, I decided to look up the three contenders in the Presidential race on LinkedIn. Curiously, an average of eight people I know connect me to each of these individuals - I am only two degrees of separation away from each of them. I can't decide whether this is a positive or negative.]

You may ask yourself, what’s the use of this broad a network? You cannot possibly know everyone in your LinkedIn network personally. This is true. But if I need to reach someone, or I need to research something or a colleague needs a connection, I am that much closer to someone I might need to connect to. This is not a substitute for my own close circle of contacts and friends. Rather, it enhances and augments it.

The American sociologist Mark Granovetter has suggested that weak ties can be more important than strong ones in seeking information and spurring innovation due to the fact that cliques tend to share common opinions and traits. It is argued that in order to truly innovate, one must reach beyond the bounds of this close network of cliques to connect with those whose opinions and perspectives differ from your own significantly.

How Did You Get My Number?

Today, the most significant impediment a business owner or individual has in forming new connections is self-imposed. Most likely, it is an assumption that a single email sent to a stranger will garner a reply or an avoidance in picking up the phone and making a first phone call.

Whatever the case there are no excuses with respect to having the information to be able to reach individuals. Today’s tools, coupled with the ability to see interrelatedness provide limitless access to people, ideas and the next great connection.

My friend Sean still guards his contacts online. I freely reveal mine. Is either approach wrong? Perhaps not. But if you do choose to keep your connections your own and fail to share them, avoid the misconception that you control access to them. Chances are, those seeking to connect to them will simply treat you as a detour on the way to the information they need instead of the resource you could become.

Suggested Links

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_network
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Granovetter
http://www.plaxo.com/
http://www.linkedin.com/
http://www.jigsaw.com/
http://www.spoke.com/