“Weak links?”
In 1973 Stanford Professor Mark Granovetter’s “the strength of weak ties” argued that weak links, between people with different opinions help new and unfamiliar ideas spread.
Strong ties bind friends and families. They encourage group think and build echo chambers. They deter people from thinking broadly, or seeing other perspectives. Strong ties lock you in.
Weak links, though, between different sorts of people, with different attitudes allow ideas to flow. They encourage diverse opinions and new ways of thinking. New ideas grow and spread through weak links.
Weak links encourage people to think differently. To sympathise, explore, innovate and imagine.
Some of you reading this we know well. Many we only know a little. Others not at all. We hope you enjoy these weak links, even if they do not entirely reflect your own views, or ours.
We’d love to know what you think.
Guy Corbet and James Boyd-Wallis, Fourteen Forty
In this edition
| “We can solve the productivity puzzle by investing in people”
Patrick Spencer from the Centre for Social Justice think tank, argues that with six million low paid workers in the UK, productivity will struggle to grow with such a waste of human capital. |
“Brexit and the impact on diversity and inclusion within the workforce”
Funke Abimbola from Roche, the pharma company, argues that failing to promote diversity in the workforce following Brexit could have a detrimental impact our competitiveness. |
| “New technologies will redefine workplace models”
Joy Frascinella from the Principles of Responsible Investment, the UN-supported proponent of responsible investment, argues companies should ensure the needs of their employees do not get lost in the excitement around AI, automation and the lure of profits. |
“Post-truth, fake news, or is it rather more nuanced than that?”
Sam Knowles of corporate and brand storytelling consultancy Insight Agents argues that influence in the modern knowledge economy is based on understanding data analytics and storytelling. |
The first edition
In the last few months we have noticed a growing hostility towards business. Studies show that the public is losing patience: even travel agents do not escape, with a quarter of people wanting them nationalised.
It has never been more difficult, nor more important, to make the case for business. Correctly, responsibly and with conviction. But not blindly, or unthinkingly.