"Small-world" networks in your organization

Studies of the Internet and other global networks have found that physical and social networks are characterized by tightly-linked clusters of nodes, interconnected by a sparse mesh of crosslinks. In social networks, humans are the "nodes," and through interpersonal connections, we put people in contact with one another, no matter where they're located. The small-world structure of social networks reflects how we participate in many different affiliations in our business and personal lives. Similarly, any complex organization has sub-communities of relationships that reflect formal reporting structures, task-specific team participation and informal friendships. Tracing the ways different communities are linked together by common members sheds light on how most of the truly useful information (social norms, rumors, how to get things done, etc.) propagates through a company.