Thanks for signing up to all the new readers! Here are some nuggets about how networks shape your wellbeing, relationships and community to help you actively cultivate yours.
This week all of the nuggets come from readers like you, who are part of the growing Reliants Project network. If you’ve come across something you think this community would enjoy, please let me know and I’ll include it in a future newsletter!
Wellbeing
At a virtual cocktail party a few weeks back, one of the hosts mentioned a great article about how doctors used Twitter to share information and collaborate with peers in the early days of the pandemic. This informal network served to accelerate learnings on how best to treat the virus. Turns out many major news publications have published stories on this topic. One of my favourites is How Doctors on the Front Lines Are Confronting the Uncertainties of COVID-19 from The New Yorker:
Everett quit Twitter several years ago—“I profess to hate it, which I mostly do, but I hate it because I loved it so much”—but he quickly realized that it was one of the few places to get the information he might need. “It was not happening in C.D.C. briefings every day, the way I feel like it should have been,” he told me. “I was, like, There’s nobody who’s got any formal, official sources of information here. We’re in a void. All the information is in places where I don’t go and I don’t know how to access. And we need somebody tasked with that. So I literally said, ‘Who’s got a Twitter account?’ ” Only one of the members of his physician’s group did. “I was, like, ‘Sorry, you’re it. You’ve got to be on Twitter.’ ”
Relationships
Recently, a friend a fellow network-geek pointed me to Fabriq. It’s an app that helps you become more intentional about your relationships through a handful of clever features. I’ve been testing it out for just over 2 weeks and impressed with the user interface. I’m also impressed with their emphasis on user engagement in the product development process and how they gather feedback from those users. If you decide to give it a try, I’d love to know what you think!
Community
Last but not least, I was pointed to Network Weaver by a newly-introduced peer. Their site is an incredible resource for anyone that wants to use network approaches to drive change in their community or organisation. They have articles, events, newsletters, tools and even a group of consultants that can weave a network lens into projects. In fact, they even display their consultants as a network diagram, how cool is that? Their work is grounded in a belief that I share:
“During the twenty-first century, activity will increasingly take place in self-organizing, system shifting networks.”
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About The Reliants Project
Reliant is my word for a person that someone depends on, an essential component of our social networks. With each edition, I’ll share useful nuggets about how networks shape your wellbeing, relationships and community to help you actively cultivate yours. Whether you want to cultivate your relationships, make better introductions, or activate networks to make an impact in the world, let me help you reach your goals.
You can find more about The Reliants Project here.