a single source, nothing corroborates it

Count relationships you keep up, not names

Audit your network by activity rather than size: who have you spoken to this month, who would you contact if you needed something, and who would you give up an afternoon for with nothing to gain. This also explains why copying the visible features of a scene that worked does not reproduce it, since what produced it was years of reciprocal relationships nobody could see.

The method

1. 01

   Audit your relationships by how active they are rather than by list size: which of these people have you spoken to this month, which would you contact if you needed something, and which would you give up an afternoon for with no agenda at all.

2. 02

   Copying the visible features of a scene that already won will not reproduce it, because what produced it was a habit of long-term reciprocal relationships that came first.

What it returned

• Hillman draws this off Steve Blank's history of Silicon Valley, warning that most people will cargo-cult the surface instead.

Sources

• The Long Term RelationshipsAlex Hillman · dangerouslyawesome.com · 2011-09-01
• The three necessary ingredients for community. Do you have them?Alex Hillman · dangerouslyawesome.com · Factor #2 Relationships · 2012-11-01