Purpose: Part of cultivating ideas for innovation means getting out of our comfort zone, reaching out to people, and putting ourselves in places that will lead us to new thinking and expertise. In this unit, we will explore strategies and practices to help us become better at strategic networking.

Objectives: By the end of the unit, students will be able to: ● Describe basic principles to make strategic networking an intentional and fruitful endeavor. ● Use principles to carry out a strategic networking activity and evaluate the outcome.

Required Readings and Viewings: Dyer, J., Gregersen, H., & Christensen, C. (2011). Innovator’s DNA: Mastering the five skills of disruptive innovators. Boston: Harvard Business School Press. Read Chapter 5 on networking. Hargadon, A. (2003). The social side of innovation (Chapter 3) and Bridging small worlds (Chapter 4). In How breakthroughs happen: The surprising truth about how companies innovate. Boston Harvard University Press. Ibarra, H. (2015). Network across and out (Chapter 3). In Act like a leader, think like a leader. Boston, MA: Harvard Review Press.

Videos: “Guest Innovators on Networking”
Johnson, S. [RiverheadBooks]. (2010, September 17). Where good ideas come from [4:06]. Available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NugRZGDbPFU

Recommended Resource: Mass, S. (2015). Are larger cities losing their edge? Report on NBER Working Paper with embedded podcast by Shankar Vedantam of the Hidden Brain. (Click on play button below story to activate audio file.)

Tasks: Watch the video “Guest Innovators on Networking.” Complete Required Readings and Viewings prior to class. Complete network density exercise in the Ibarra reading and bring your score to class. Bring drafts of your Discovery Task I assignment to discuss, review, and edit in class. Revise and upload your Discovery Task I assignment within 2 days after class. Attend your live class session at the scheduled time.