First a brief (very brief) introduction to networks.  A network is an interconnected system of things where the “things” are represented by nodes and the connections between them are represented by “lines”.  Nodes, for example, can be individuals, teams, groups, departments, divisions, other organizations, cities, states, countries, etc.  Lines, on the other hand, indicate the connections that are “in between” the nodes and include such things as communications, products, services, transactions, trust, friendship, etc.  A road map of the United States is a network showing all the towns and cities and the roads that connect them.

In traditional management approaches, the focus is on the nodes.  As a result, managers try to get the best possible node (e.g., most talented person, team, or group) on the assumption that if the node is good, then performance will be good.  Traditional management treats the node as king.

In networks, however, it is the connection between nodes that becomes king.  It makes no difference how good the node is if it does get what it needs when it needs it or does not deliver what it needs to when it needs to.   Michael Jordon may be the greatest basketball player of all time.  But no matter how talented he was, if he did not get the ball, he could not score points.  His scoring performance was a function of connections.

In cancer treatments, one of the ways to kill a tumor is to cut the blood vessels that feed it.  Cut the connections, and the tumor cannot do its thing.  The same is true for every node in an organization.  Disrupt the connections, and node performance will drop.

If you doubt this, then consider what happens to your performance when people get things to you late (if at all) or get you things that are incomplete, inaccurate, or of poor quality.  No matter how good you are at what you do, if you don’t get what you need, you can’t perform up to your ability.

Success in an era of networks depends on managing the connections, not the nodes.  When things don’t work, focus on the connections not the nodes.  Trying to motivate people, for example, is focusing on the nodes in hope that they will deliver what they are supposed to.  An alternative is to focus on the connections and improving them.  It is a relatively simple shift, but it is incredibly powerful in terms of the results and outcomes you can produce.