What Harry Potter and the small-world problem teaches us
In 1967 social psychologist Stanley Milgram conducted an experiment to investigate the small-world problem, the hypothesis that everyone on the planet is connected by just a few intermediaries. Today this is entrenched in folklore, often referred to as ‘six degrees of separation’ or ‘the six-handshake rule’.
In the experiment letters were handed out to 296 people in Nebraska and Boston to send to a Boston stockbroker, but only through someone they knew on first-name terms. Sending the letter from one middleman to another until finally reaching the target person. In the end 64 of the letters reached the stockbroker. Of those letter chains completed, the average degree of separation was 6.2. This finding now enshrined in the notion that everyone can be connected by a chain of acquaintances roughly six links long.
More recently Microsoft confirmed the study still stands up, through analysis of 30 billion electronic records across 180 million people across the planet. They found that any two people could be connected by an average of 6.6 ‘hops’.
Hard to believe that with almost 8 billion people on the planet we are only 6 connections away from anyone. This has profound implications and creates amazing opportunities for those in business. No matter who you are, what you do or where you are from, you and your business are only six acquaintances away from knowing any other person in the world.
In business this phenomenon is referred to as an information cascade and highlights how ideas spread, how fads catch on and why increasingly larger numbers of people buy a product or service from often humble beginnings.
Take ‘Harry Potter’ as an example. Where its success may have more to do with attributes of the social and media network it spread across rather than the inherent qualities of the book. A book whose manuscript was never a sure thing and rejected by several publishers before Bloomsbury bought the rights. For every ‘Harry Potter’ that explodes out of nowhere, there are thousands of books, movies, authors, and actors who live their entire lives in obscurity.
Of course, just because we are connected to everyone else by six degrees of separation doesn’t mean we have control over these people. The first three degrees are seen as the most important: our friends (one degree), our friends’ friends (two degrees), and even our friends’ friends’ friends (three degrees). After that our influence gradually dissipates like ripples in a pond. Hence why only 64 of 296 letters got through in the small world experiment.
In addition, many online channels are filtered and not transmitted, with messages ranked on what people are interested in and breaking links. Also, networks evolve over time and decline if not looked after - which is why networking is so important.
However, the principle stands and those in business that are able to identify the people that can influence their success heighten their ability to succeed. Understanding that it is no longer about 8 billion people on the planet but focusing on those that matter, those that can made a real difference if you can just connect. You know where you are starting and you know where the end is, you just need to fill in the five names in between!
Amazing to know that in a few short steps you can be connected to Barack Obama, Tom Cruise, Kim Kardashian, Beyonce, Elon Musk or the person that will change the fortunes of your business forever – if you can simply start by identifying who they are.
