The importance of Networking

I start today a series of 4 entries on Networking based on the work I did a few days ago at the Conference “Understanding Risk Central America 2020”.

Networking is a current issue, we listen to it often, but we are not always clear about why or the importance it has in our lives.

The term Networking is associated with the professional contacts we make, those we use for the performance of our work, our professional career. Reality tells us that personal contacts are also part of our Networking.

To understand the importance of Networking, we must see it as an intrinsic element to our human nature. We are made to relate, to come together for development, a welfare. We are social beings and that is why within us is important making contacts with other people, connecting at different levels (work related, personal, social, sports, friendship, family, cultural, etc.).

By interacting with other people, we are creating the necessary connections to give and receive the support we need at certain times in our lives. Everything that we cannot do for ourselves due to our limitations (of knowledge, skills, physical, emotional, material goods etc.) we can achieve with the collaboration of other people through the networks of contacts / connections that we have made.

Historically, through Networking, we have shared and transmitted knowledge, experiences, discoveries, good practices, case studies, lessons learned and especially daily life experiences that have led us to evolve as a human species.

In fact, in a recent study by Dr. Brian Stewart of the Department of Archeology at the University of Michigan, a number of very interesting conclusions were reached to understand the fact that the Homo Sapiens, not necessarily the most intelligent of the hominids, is the one who survived.

Two of the conclusions were:

• "Homo sapiens could adapt to extreme regions due to their ability to cooperate with people outside their family"

• "Sharing food with people outside their family and exchanging products from different regions would have allowed populations to adapt to local climatic and environmental fluctuations, compete with other hominid species and replace them"

We could say, based on the results of this study, that Homo Sapiens survived thanks to its ability to establish networks of connections beyond its immediate surroundings.

The ability to accumulate and transmit cultural knowledge made them resilient and allowed them to build networks in which they could rely on difficult times and share knowledge.

This is pure networking!

In a nutshell, networking has been and remains vital to our survival, our well-being. We need connections to be happy, progress and be relevant in our lives.

Homo Sapiens survived thanks to its ability to establish networks of connections beyond its immediate surroundings

Photo by Crawford Jolly on Unsplash