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01.09.09 Weighing In On Your Social Capital  By Jennifer Rice I just came across this old post of mine (circa 2005) and wanted to republish as I've been thinking quite a bit recently about interbeing: the state of connectedness and interdependence of all phenomena. I'm finding that I now have a deeper understanding of what I wrote three years ago... funny how that works. - I've been thinking about "brand as connection" and doing a bit of research on the subject. Most of us view the business world through a component lens (customers, technology, products, departments, etc.), but it's interesting to take a moment and look at the world through a connection lens: what are the connections between these components, and how can they be strengthened? Robert Putnam, author of Bowling Alone, focuses on a similar concept called social capital. A few definitions: Whereas physical capital refers to physical objects and human capital refers to the properties of individuals, social capital refers to connections among individuals – social networks and the norms of reciprocity and trustworthiness that arise from them. (Putnam 2000: 19) Social capital refers to the institutions, relationships, and norms that shape the quality and quantity of a society's social interactions... Social capital is not just the sum of the institutions which underpin a society – it is the glue that holds them together. (The World Bank 1999) Social capital consists of the stock of active connections among people: the trust, mutual understanding, and shared values and behaviors that bind the members of human networks and communities and make cooperative action possible. (Cohen and Prusak 2001: 4) There is considerable evidence that communities with a good 'stock' of social capital are more likely to benefit from lower crime figures, better health, higher educational achievement, and better economic growth. (infed.org)
Too often, we view creation of social capital as the domain of non-profits and government. Corporations can wield significant influence in this arena, but physical and financial capital (ie components) hold the attention of business leaders. Social capital (connections) can't be quantified and listed on financial statements, so it's usually not acknowledged or effectively managed. This thought reminds me of another interest of mine, quantum physics. There's an interesting new theory called the zero point field... this might seem to be a random tangent on the subject of social capital, but bear with me. Here's an overview of the ZPF written by Bernhard Haisch, staff physicist at the Lockheed Martin Solar & Astrophysics Laboratory: ...electric and magnetic fields flowing through space oscillate like a pendulum. At every possible frequency there will always be a tiny bit of electromagnetic jiggling going on. And if you add up all these ceaseless fluctuations, what you get is a background sea of light whose total energy is enormous: the zero-point field. The "zero-point" refers to the fact that even though this energy is huge, it is the lowest possible energy state. All other energy is over and above the zero-point state. The fact that the zero-point field is the lowest energy state makes it unobservable... Since it is everywhere, inside and outside of us, permeating every atom in our bodies, we are effectively blind to it. Continue reading this article. About the Author: Jennifer Rice is the founder of Mantra Brand Communication. She has extensive experience in brand/marketing strategy, market/customer research, integrated marketing communications and channel support. Jennifer also writes theWhat's Your Brand Mantra? blog which offers musings on branding, marketing and the ecology of business. |
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