Social Chemistry: Decoding the Patterns of Human Connection
Marissa King
Dutton (January 2021)

How the basic elements of social structure and their psychological tendencies shape our lives

According to Marissa King, “Social scientists have spent the last four decades studying the antecedents and consequences of social network structure. How your network is shaped (consciously or unconsciously has enormous implications for a wide variety of personal and professional outcomes. The strength and quality of your social connections and their arrangement profoiundly affect your experie3nce of the world, your emotion, and your personal and professional success.”

She wrote this book in order to explain how the basic elements of social structure — and the psychological tendencies that accompany them — shape our lives. “Decades of research has shown that the myopic focus on network size is misguided. The quality (not quantity) of your social connection is a strong predictor  of your social connections is a strong predictor of your cognitive functioning, work resilience, and work engagement. In addition, the structure of your contacts — whether you are an expansionist, broker, the convener — helps explain everything from your pay to the quality of your ideas.”

What we have here are scientific research-driven insights that King has uncovered or accumulated and now shares with as many people as possible. (Check out her “Notes,” Pages 281-338.) For example, there are a few patterns of human connection that have much greater potential value than do others. Social networks, for example: yours “can be conceptualized as a series of concentric circles that decrease in emotional in tensity as you move outward. Decades of research by [Robin] Dunbar and his colleagues have unveiled a pattern: the size of our social circles expands in roughly multiples of three.” They also suggest that 150 should be the average size of a social group.

King focuses much of her attention on three “dimensions” or “interaction spaces” in which human connections are made. The challenge is to determine which social chemistry is most appropriate for you. She introduces three distinct types or operation model in Chapter 2 and then devotes a separate chapter to each. Briefly,  Expansionists prefer a vast network with weak connections and concentrate on adding new relationships. Brokers have some strong connections but the strength of their network comes from weak ones. and they concentrate them. As for Conveners,  they prefer having few but strong connections on which they concentrate. “The beauty of networks, including your own social signature, is that their properties are greater than the sum of their parts.”

I agree with Simon SInek about the importance of WHY.  As is also true of so many other initiatives, you get about as much out of making human connections. Which relationships will be of greatest interest and value?  Other than time and effort, and perhaps some funds, what else do you offer? What do you hope to accomplish? Long ago, a thief named Willie Sutton was asked why he robbed banks. “That’s where the money is.” Hence the importance of belonging to trade and professional associations — as well as other networks of social connection — whose members can be helpful.

Thank you, Marissa King, for providing an abundance if valuable information, insights, and counsel that can help almost any person in almost any organization to “decode” and then derive benefit from the available patterns of connection. Shared and separate struggles during the emergence of the coronavirus throughout the world continue to illustrate the compelling relevance and timeless truth of what she affirms in her concluding paragraph:

“In combination, brokers, expansionists, and conveners make the world small. They strike a beautiful balance between order and randomness. That is how brains and ecosystems and ant colonies work. Despite the differences in personality and preferences of brokers, expansionists, and conveners, they can contribute to creating a brilliant, vibrant social order.”

In terms of accelerating both personal growth and professional development, this book could well prove to be one of the most valuable that many people ever read. Bravo!