The social network side of individual innovation

Baer, Markus; Evans, Karoline; Oldham, Greg R.; Boasso, Alyssa

doi:10.1177/2041386614564105

Cited by 74 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 153 publications

(254 reference statements)

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“…This corresponds with research discussed earlier indicating that extraversion predicts use of social information (20,22). However, openness to experience is correlated negatively with friendship centrality, and is associated with smaller network groups and higher betweenness centrality (43,45). The link between openness and betweenness centrality is intriguing as both predict innovation.…”

Section: Personality and Social Network Positionssupporting

confidence: 88%

“…Similarly, in business settings, adult employees who score highly in betweenness centrality, and those with many weak network ties (compared to many strong network ties), are innovative and creative (as measured by publications, awards, and supervisor ratings; 43). Indeed, access to diverse information from many individuals may drive innovation in the workplace (43).…”

Section: Positions In Social Networkmentioning

confidence: 99%

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To Copy or To Innovate? The Role of Personality and Social Networks in Children's Learning Strategies

Rawlings

Flynn

Kendal

2016

Child Dev Perspectives

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ABSTRACT-In our technologically complex world, children frequently have problems to solve and skills to learn. They can develop solutions through learning strategies involving social learning or asocial endeavors. While evidence is emerging that children may differ individually in their propensity to adopt different learning strategies, little is known about what underlies these differences. In this article, we reflect on recent research with children, adults, and nonhuman animals regarding individual differences in learning strategies. We suggest that characteristics of children's personalities and children's positions in their social networks are pertinent to individual differences in their learning strategies. These are likely pivotal factors in the learning strategies children adopt, and thus can help us understand who copies and who innovates, an important question for cultural evolution. We also discuss how methodological issues constrain developmental researchers in this field and provide suggestions for ongoing work. KEYWORDS-social learning; innovation; individual differencesThe world is developing at an unprecedented pace and we encounter technological advancements at ever-increasing frequencies. Because of these developments, children regularly face novel problems not faced by their parents' generation. Children must decide whether to develop solutions to these problems by using social information acquired from others (social learning) or through their own endeavors (asocial/individual learning). Both learning strategies call for specific skill sets. Effective social learning requires assessing the competence and intentions of those observed and evaluating the behaviors they display (1). Asocial learning often requires creativity and innovation to derive a solution without direct help from others (2), though this can occur through understanding the causal mechanisms of a problem, trial and error, or luck. Both strategies have benefits and potential costs: Copying others is a quick, low-effort form of learning difficult skills but the learned behavior may be outdated or unreliable, while asocial learning provides direct, reliable information but can be risky and take time. Thus, children face a trade-off when deciding how to solve novel problems.Although the same mechanisms of associative learning may underlie both asocial and social learning (3), tentative evidence suggests that adults differ in their propensity to solve problems socially or asocially; individuals from collectivist societies (compared to individualistic ones) and those who are rated as more socially dominant are more likely to use social information, while those with lower IQs are less likely to learn socially (4). This probably occurs because each learning strategy requires specific skill sets. Why some children show a greater propensity or capability to solve problems by observing peers while others to do so on their own is an understudied area in developmental psychology. In this article, we argue for an investigation of whether ch...

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Section: Personality and Social Network Positionssupporting

confidence: 88%

Section: Positions In Social Networkmentioning

confidence: 99%

To Copy or To Innovate? The Role of Personality and Social Networks in Children's Learning Strategies

Rawlings

Flynn

Kendal

2016

Child Dev Perspectives

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…In this paper we consider both tracks, since research shows that high professionals did not only/necessarily develop large networks, but also engaged in behaviors that led to diverse networks (Kilduff & Krackhardt, 1994;Mehra, Kilduff, & Brass, 2001). Moreover, large networks have shown to increase the chance of comprising diverse people (Baer, Evans, Oldham, & Boasso, 2015). Specifically, the networks of high performers have a greater tendency to minimize insularity (Cross, Singer, Colella, Thomas, & Silverstone, 2010).…”

Section: Network Features Related To Professional Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

Strengthening networks: A social network intervention among higher education teachers

Waes

Mæyer

Moolenaar

et al. 2018

Learning and Instruction

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a b s t r a c tTeachers' opportunities to learn at the workplace are shaped by the relationships in which they discuss their instructional practice, what we call teaching networks. This study examined the extent to which such teaching networks could be strengthened during a professional development (PD) program. An intervention was designed to evaluate whether the development of teaching networks was affected in terms of network composition and access to teaching content. Longitudinal ego-network data of Belgian university teachers (N ¼ 38, 1670 ties) were collected over a two-year time period. Multilevel analyses showed that the intervention group developed larger networks and increased network dynamics, compared to the control group. The intervention group also developed more diverse networks, and showed increased access to teaching content, suggesting that the intervention changed teachers' networks over time. This study shows the potential of network interventions to support teachers' professional development, and of network analysis as a tool to analyze professional relations.

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“…Brokerage involves controlling and coordinating the flow of ideas and information between currently disconnected people (Lingo & O'Mahony, 2010). People who occupy brokerage positions tend to excel in terms of job performance (Mehra, Kilduff, & Brass, 2001), creative ideas (Burt, 2004), and innovation (Baer, Evans, Oldham, & Boasso, 2015). But the wide variation in the outcomes of those occupying brokerage positions (Burt, 2005) is little understood (Burt, Kilduff, & Tasselli, 2013).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The paradox of agency: Feeling powerful reduces brokerage opportunity recognition yet increases willingness to broker.

Landis¹,

Kilduff²,

Menges³

et al. 2018

Journal of Applied Psychology

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Research suggests positions of brokerage in organizational networks provide many benefits, but studies tend to assume everyone is equally able to perceive and willing to act on brokerage opportunities. Here we challenge these assumptions in a direct investigation of whether people can perceive brokerage opportunities and are willing to broker. We propose that the psychological experience of power diminishes individuals' ability to perceive opportunities to broker between people who are not directly connected in their networks, yet enhances their willingness to broker. In Study 1, we find that employees in a marketing and media agency who had a high sense of power were likely to see fewer brokerage opportunities in their advice networks. In Study 2, we provide causal evidence for this claim in an experiment where the psychological experience of power is manipulated. Those who felt powerful, relative to those who felt little power, tended to see fewer brokerage opportunities than actually existed, yet were more willing to broker, irrespective of whether there was a brokerage opportunity present. Collectively, these findings present a paradox of agency: Individuals who experience power are likely to underperceive the very brokerage opportunities for which their sense of agency is suited. (PsycINFO Database Record

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The social network side of individual innovation

Cited by 74 publications

References 153 publications

To Copy or To Innovate? The Role of Personality and Social Networks in Children's Learning Strategies

To Copy or To Innovate? The Role of Personality and Social Networks in Children's Learning Strategies

Strengthening networks: A social network intervention among higher education teachers

The paradox of agency: Feeling powerful reduces brokerage opportunity recognition yet increases willingness to broker.

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