Refreshing Your Networks
Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008Lately I’ve been listening to a book on my ipod entitled “Mozart’s Brain and the Fighter Pilot” (Richard M. Restak). I was interested to “read” about the way the brain works to re-connect networks, even after years of dis-use. Apparently the brain has an amazing amount of plasticity, and the networks that are created never really go away. Dr. Restak tells us that in order to become proficient at something like playing a particular sport or musical instrument, the brain makes a series of network connections. If we don’t use those connections for a long time they will atrophy. The good news is that they never really disappear. The plasticity of the brain makes it easy for us to re-learn those activities very quickly when we attempt them again, even years later.
This makes me think of my grandmother. She played the piano and organ when she was a young woman, but as she aged her fingers became grossly disfigured by arthritis. She stopped playing because her hands hurt so badly. However, one day I was with her when she spotted a piano in the corner of a friend’s house. She walked over and began to play as if she had never quit — a bit slower than her old days, perhaps, but she hit every note. She hadn’t played the piano for years, but the connections in her brain that told her hands what to do never went away. She was able to call upon them years later. The human brain is indeed amazing!
What is true for networks in the brain, is also true for the personal networks we make with friends and colleagues. Even if we haven’t talked to a network contact in years, the contact never goes away. Now, mind you, you may have to mend a fence or two if you have left that relationship due to some sort of conflict. But most of the connections we make fall into dis-use because of a lack of proximity of time or space. Our lives move off in different directions and we lose the connection we once had with the other person.
The good news is that those connections are never REALLY lost. They can be re-engaged a just a few minutes if you want.
So, here’s what I suggest. Look through your rolodex, facebook friends, or LinkedIn contacts. Find a person or two that you haven’t had contact with in awhile, and shoot them an email or give them a phone call. We all have a few connections that we haven’t talked to in a while — maybe even in years! I’m sure that you will find it rather easy to re-connect with those people. You may even learn something new and exciting as you catch up with each other.
What are you waiting for? Why not make it a habit of refreshing one network each week? You will be suprised at how quickly those contacts re-connect, and you will BOTH be glad you did!
