George Gershwin Goes Networking

There's more to the world of networks than CBS, Fox, and local breakfasts for job seekers.  An acquaintance of many years contacts me only every two or three years, that is, when he's out of work - again.  He's surprised when I'm surprised because he thinks that he is simply "networking."

George Gershwin's character, Sportin' Life in Porgy and Bess, sings A Woman Is A Sometime Thing.  Great song, but networking, unlike the woman in question, had better not be a sometime thing.  Come to think of it, believing that a woman is a "sometime thing" is a dangerous assumption, but that's another story.

Saving networking until it is direly needed is a little like waiting until the ship hits the iceberg before inflating the life raft.  Not to mention that the accompanying desperation dilutes the quality of the communication, and that only coming 'round in moments of need is an insult to both the people and the process.

The message is that networkng ought to be a regular, routine, proactive, and positive set of interactions with a wide variety of contacts, many of whom will be of no use whatsoever in a job search but have all kinds of useful information.  Failing to network as an integral part of your busines life means faling behind the wave, losing track of people on the move, and being seen as out of touch, perhaps even irrelevant. 

Nowhere is this more true and more important than in the constantly changing world of supply chain management.