Social Chemistry

„One of the most interesting and useful books ever written on networking.“–Adam Grant

Social Chemistry will utterly transform the way you think about „networking.“ Understanding the contours of your social network can dramatically enhance personal relationships, work life, and even your global impact. Are you an Expansionist, a Broker, or a Convener? The answer matters more than you think. . . .

Yale professor Marissa King shows how anyone can build more meaningful and productive relationships based on insights from neuroscience, psychology, and network analytics. Conventional wisdom says it’s the size of your network that matters, but social science research has proven there is more to it. King explains that the quality and structure of our relationships has the greatest impact on our personal and professional lives. As she illustrates, there are three basic types of networks, so readers can see the role they are already playing: Expansionist, Broker, or Convener. This network decoder enables readers to own their network style and modify it for better alignment with their life plans and values.

High-quality connections in your social network strongly predict cognitive functioning, emotional resilience, and satisfaction at work. A well-structured network is likely to boost the quality of your ideas, as well as your pay. Beyond the office, social connections are the lifeblood of our health and happiness. The compiled results from dozens of previous studies found that our social relationships have an effect on our likelihood of dying prematurely–equivalent to obesity or smoking.

Rich stories of Expansionists like Vernon Jordan, Brokers like Yo-Yo Ma, and Conveners like Anna Wintour, as well as personal experiences from King’s own world of connections, inform this warm, engaging, revelatory investigation into some of the most consequential decisions we can make about the trajectory of our lives.

Editorial Reviews

It turns out, most of us are social nincompoops. We’re friends with whoever happens to be seated next to us at work or school. We go to happy hours to meet new people but end up talking to the three people we already know. We ghost our friends rather than face difficult conversations. And these seemingly small choices, taken together, have a huge impact on our life outcomes. . . King calls on us to be intentional not just with our individual relationships, but with our networks.“–The New York Times Book Review

„The latest book on the always fascinating topic of networks and networking . . . A useful guide, updated with the latest research, including her own, to mapping, exploring, and developing your existing social links.“–Financial Times

„The book is full of wisdom and entertaining anecdotes.“–The Economist

„It’s frequently said that we’re living in a ‘connected world.’ But it turns out that the details of those connections matter, a lot. Social Chemistry is a fascinating look at the particulars of impactful networks. Whether you take naturally to networking or think yourself allergic to it, there is practical information here that can help you form more productive relationships, and make better use of those you already have.“–David Epstein, New York Times bestselling author of Range and The Sports Gene

„This is one of the most interesting and useful books ever written on networking. As a leading sociologist at Yale, Marissa King specializes in evidence-based insights on enriching our professional and personal connections. You’ll quickly recognize your own style–and some opportunities for growth and development.“–Adam Grant, New York Times bestselling author of Originals and Give and Take, and host of the chart-topping TED podcast WorkLife

„Marissa King skillfully brings to light how understanding the science of organizational behavior and networks yields benefits far beyond the workplace. Decoding social patterns can transform every corner of your life. By providing readers with prescriptive pathways towards greater connectivity and intention, Social Chemistry helps you to create new relationships and strengthen your existing ones.“–Eve Rodsky, New York Times bestselling author of Fair Play: A Game-Changing Solution for When You Have Too Much to Do (and More Life to Live)

„In an age of both hyper-connectedness and extreme loneliness, Marissa King definitively cracks the code on human connection: what brings us together, what keeps us together, and how we make each other come alive.“–Emma Seppälä, PhD, author of The Happiness Track and science director of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education at Stanford University

„King’s wise, well-reasoned advice will be perfect for those aiming to climb the corporate ladder.“–Publishers Weekly

„King gives readers the big picture, showing what social networks are and demonstrating their importance in one’s career and personal life. A personable approach to one of the hot topics of our times.“–Kirkus Reviews

„Using recognizable celebrities and anecdotes from interviewed individuals as examples, King blends large-scale research with personal stories to illustrate her findings. Social Chemistry is a fascinating study for anyone curious about human interaction.“–Booklist
– From the Publisher

05/04/2020

King, professor of organizational management at Yale, explains the nuances of networking in this smart debut. She identifies three main groups of connectors: conveners, such as Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, who build dense networks with outsize trust and reputational benefits; brokers, like Barack Obama, who bring together disconnected parties from different social worlds; and expansionists, including rock ‘n’ roll manager Shep Gordon, who have large social networks but can’t always maintain or leverage them. In King’s thinking, convenors don’t spend a lot of time exploring multiple social worlds, but have deep roots in a few–and pairing with brokers can inject diversity into a convenor’s network. Brokers are adaptable translators, and are the most likely group to produce innovations that benefit the group, making them good partners to both convenors and expansionists. Expansionists, meanwhile, are generous, have an uncanny ability to read others, and often have a larger social network than other personality types, making them ideal for signal-boosting messaging. A robust and lengthy notes section also provides plenty of follow-up reading material. King’s wise, well-reasoned advice will be perfect for those aiming to climb the corporate ladder. (June)
– Publishers Weekly

04/01/2020

According to this work, three simple topographies characterize most people’s networks: expansionists, brokers, and conveners. How your network is shaped has implications for a variety of personal and professional outcomes. The book promises to transform the way you think about networking, but does it succeed? No. The weakest material is the exploration of the three types of networkers King proposes. The horoscope-like nature of the distinctions between expansionists, brokers, and conveners (any given characteristic of one type of networker could be equally true of the others) leaves the entire concept feeling pointless. However, the second part, dedicated to strategies for improving networking, is more interesting and informative. Chapter seven onward provides the best material of the ten-chapter book. But the helpful generalities for improving social interaction in the latter half calls into question the whole selling point of the book: King does not make a satisfactory case for the promised revelatory distinctions between people’s different networking capabilities and how to leverage them. VERDICT Pass. The value of the second half does not make up for the feebleness of the first.–Laurel Tacoma, Fairfax Cty. P.L., VA
– Library Journal

2020-03-16
A close look at the various structures of social networks.

King, a professor of organizational behavior at the Yale School of Management, has spent some 15 years studying social relationships among a variety of networks. In a psychobabble-free manner, she presents the findings of numerous researchers in the field, and, using simple diagrams, she maps the structure of three common types of personal networks. She categorizes their organizers as Expansionists, Brokers, and Conveners, and anecdotes about well-known figures illustrate the basic elements of each network’s social structure and psychological differences. Expansionists have huge but relatively weak networks, spend time meeting lots of new people, and know how to work a room. A good example is Jim Cramer, the loud host of Mad Money, whom the author describes as „the epitome of brash overconfidence.“ Networks organized by Brokers have a very different style, embodied here by cellist Yo-Yo Ma, whose musical collective Silk Road Ensemble is a network of talented people from very different social worlds. Conveners build dense networks with deep roots in which their friends are also each other’s friends. King’s choice to illustrate this is Vogue editor Anna Wintour, queen of the fashion industry. Celebrities abound in these pages, but the author takes care to clarify the benefits and drawbacks of each style and emphasizes that for any individual, the most appropriate style is one that matches their personal goals, career stage, and needs. Throughout, she blends the findings of numerous sociological and psychological research studies with thoughtful advice and relevant stories from her own life, which gives the book a comfortable balance and adds to its readability. Rather than providing quick tips on how to build a network, King gives readers the big picture, showing what social networks are and demonstrating their importance in one’s career and personal life.

A personable approach to one of the hot topics of our times.
– Kirkus Reviews