Theories Relating to Network.

Task 3b . Theories relating to network.

The first theory I had a closer look at was that of affiliation.  The need we have to create a support network around us.  Of course, I thought about my affiliations both professionally and personally.  My closest, most static affiliation is, like others, my family and a few close friends.  Thinking about my experience in college and school there were people I swore to always stay in touch with, but as my needs and the needs of those people changed it’s safe to say we drifted.   

Some affiliations will last a lifetime, because they are unchanging relationships, family or people you consider as family.  The rest will change, often dramatically.  I was reading the chapter given on our reading list for affiliation when I came across a term I didn’t understand and wasn’t familiar with, ‘ individualistic culture’ so I had conducted an Internet search to find out what exactly this meant.  From my further reading I understand the phrase to be describing a culture, which is very focused on the ideas of self worth and independence. The opposing theory to this is the idea of collectivist cultures where there is a more community and collected feel, people are more likely to act in a way that benefits and entire group of people.

  From the given article and other websites I began to see myself and my experiences being categorized.  As a child I was always invited to everyone’s birthday party… I was in everybody’s friendship group but I wouldn’t say that I had any “best friends”. Clearly at that age, I didn’t feel the need to affiliate myself with anyone in particular.  A similar pattern has continued throughout my personal and professional life, there are only a few people who I consider true friends.  I see myself as a very private person; I value the feeling of privacy.  So in theory I am acting with characteristic tendencies valued in an individualistic culture; in the sense that I have had many friendships over the years but few long lasting and deep.  So, how much influence does our culture have on our networking, our professional practice?  It seems to me to be quite a strong connection; It seems like we connect with people and move through our professional life in a very individualistic way.  This is a very strong concept in the performing arts, it is a very individualistic professional world as shows and jobs don’t often last very long then you are moving on and looking for the next one again.

 I think it is important to note that there is always a strong sense of competition in the arts and sharing information is not always something people choose to do in fear of someone else progressing above them.  In a situation like this it could also be seen as a person who is deflecting instead of cooperating, I have also been looking at the concept of game theory and made some interesting discoveries.  Using the link provided I went online to play a version of prisoner’s dilemma, and used different strategies to see what the outcome would be.  This game works by awarding gold coins to players depending on what their choices are.   The first time I played the game I played to cooperate for every move, both my digital opponent and myself finished that round with 18 gold coins each.  The next time, I played to compete for every move, the results were 14/9 in may favor.  So competing meant I was ahead of my opponent… but it didn’t earn me as many coins as cooperating.  Next I tried a mixed strategy and competed on some rounds and then cooperating, the results were 8/3 in my favor.  Once again, not as many coins as when I made the choice to cooperate.   So what does this mean in relation to my network? What does it mean to me?  My professional practice?  In an ideal world I would like to say that from now on I will cooperate in every situation- like in the game, but that leaves me open to be competed with, to be taken advantage of; would I ever win any gold coins?… This is a massive ethical consideration in my professional practice, especially in the arts.  I think I need to consider carefully the networks I have, do I cooperate enough? As i mentioned in a previous comment i have already considered the thought that in the past, I haven't.  Can I honestly expect to gain from others if I do not cooperate enough with them? How successful are my current networks?  Would we see a difference in the performance world if suddenly everyone cooperated? Well… There’s a nice thought.  Will it ever happen? Within an individualistic culture I think cooperation is less likely, however, not as rare as people might think and definitely not impossible.