Task 3b - Theories relating to networking

As I have been flicking through Reader 3 I have found that there are vast amounts of depth specifically on the different theories within networking itself. As I write this post I will touch on each theory and how it has a personally affects me and how it in cooperates into my professional practice.

Cooperation - The will and way to win

According to the Reader, cooperation is a theory of networking and learning predominantly used by mathematicians. This theory of Networking seems almost opposite to how I view my own networking in my professional working environment. As I understand, this theory is almost like a competition between fellow workers for one to "succeed at the other expense". If this was applied to the dance world, it would be incredibly counter productive to your work. As I mentioned in my previous blog, when you are part of a dance company, you should all have the same goal which is to make sure the production looks good as a whole.

This theory would possibly work in a huge cooperation where you can think of work relationships as "single use" or "disposable". Robert Axelrod's quote of "cooperate until maximum benefit produced and the defect" is smart in a business sense, but goes against that of an Arts environment. On a managerial role in our professional world Axelrod's theory of networking would prove more beneficial as our boss or bosses boss have to manage a mass group of dancers and make decisions and sacrifices where necessary. When applied to myself though, regardless of my roles or position in any given production, the underlining goal is always to have a clean, together performance and not to treat fellow colleagues as only a stepping stone to my own success.

As much as I don't agree that this theory is productive to my own working network, I have definitely experienced it from fellow dancers and from people higher up the networking ladder. For example, being someone who considers themselves a very reliable company member, I am often turned to in times of desperation. Whether that be teaching new people choreography quickly, stepping for a part that is not mine due to someones injury or going above and beyond my contracted work for the greater good of the production. I am more than happy to oblige with the above as I am all for having a clean performance but it becomes very evident that some dancers will only engage with you when it benefits themselves. I guess it's similar to a child who goes to school with a big bag of sweets, everyone is your best friend until there aren't any sweets left.

Affiliation

Affiliation is a networking device that is almost the opposite of the Cooperation theory and one that works much more in line with my professional field. Developed as a concept in the psychology field, this touches on the premise that we, as human beings, enjoy and somewhat need close affiliation and "close relationships". This falls in line perfectly with my own workplace because my job as a dancer is to work with a large team to make a production great.

A quote from (Crisp and Turner) is that affiliation with fellow humans in and out of the work place provides us with "a network of support that will help us when we are in need". I think that particular quote sums up perfectly exactly the relationship dancers do and should have with one and other (to an extent). As a team, we have to support one and other not only with dance steps and difficult choreography, but with emotional support after something has perhaps gone wrong, two partners are clashing artistically or a production has been cast unfairly.

Of course we must find a fine line or a balance so to speak to make our working environment as productive as possible. As much as being supportive and having an affiliation based network amongst dancers is important, we must also keep a professional and occasionally abrupt mentality. By this I mean, I am happy to console someone if something hasn't gone their way in the working environment but I am forced to sometimes change my mentality if it conflicts with my personal work or inhibits my learning space. Although this may sound harsh or somewhat cold, at the end of the day, this is our job. After reflecting on different theories, I have learnt that I definitely have different relationships with people in and outside of work. There are not many company members that I wouldn't have fun going to a party or having a drink with, but a lot of the same people I enjoy having out with outside of my working hours, I have very little respect for within a working environment perhaps due to their bad work ethic or unreliability.


Summary

Even though I find that my line of professional work does coincide much more with an "affiliation" style of networking. On reflection, I do think that some degrees of "cooperation" networking are definitely necessary to keep everything afloat on a day to day basis. Both forms of networking are very important in any line of work, but when your work colleagues are also your close friends outside of work, I think that maintaining a professional network amongst those same friends/people is important. Keeping a work mentality intact and maintaining professionalism at all times in the work space is key to development.