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Networking and soft skills.
When the sky closes: why networking starts working again in a crisis
How pre-built relationships and networking help you find solutions when nothing is going according to plan.
In normal times, people think that systems are what decide everything.
Digital. CRM. Automation. Optimization. Platforms. Contracts. Logistics. The corporate autopilot is set and running on its own.
Crises always come unexpectedly: from pandemics to blocked channels.
Then another “black swan” happens. We’ve seen them before. First, everyone is sent to sit at home for several months. Then ships suddenly can’t pass through a canal. Then a currency suddenly soars, and just as suddenly crashes.
In those moments, the planning horizon is zero. Zilch. Just today.
Question: so how do you make money?
And suddenly it turns out that the systems don’t answer the main question:
How do we go on living, and how do we earn money tomorrow?
The platforms don’t know. The contracts don’t know. The logistics don’t know. The corporate autopilot is broken.
When official systems stop working
At this moment, personal connections start working again. That notorious networking. An ordinary address book with people’s contacts.
Networking as a backup infrastructure
Networking works like backup infrastructure. Imagine a flow of water. As long as there is a riverbed, everything moves by itself. Goods are shipped. Advertising brings in leads. Conversions are counted. Complaints are processed. Everything works.
Connections built long before the crisis help the most.
If the riverbed is destroyed, you have to set the water flowing again. And at that point, systems no longer help. You need people.
People who need your services. People who can solve the problem manually. Because they are as interested in the outcome as you are. And because they know you personally. Which means they believe that the “get everything back up and running” mode can be switched on.
Why do personal connections start to matter again in a crisis?
There’s one more important thing. Networking that starts only after a crisis has begun works poorly. There’s no trust. No context. No time to get acquainted.
But the connections that start working are the ones that were built years ago without any specific goal. Just acquaintances. Just conversations. Just crossing paths.
It’s the old contacts that keep the system running when everything else is falling apart.
And suddenly it turns out that it’s these very connections that are holding the system together when the official systems stop working.
Someone you know has a contact in the new port. Someone else can call the airline. And suddenly it turns out that there are routes. And there is transport, too.
Networking that starts during a crisis hardly works at all
And suddenly it turns out that it’s these very connections that are holding the system together when the official systems stop working.
Someone you know knows a person in the new port. Someone else can call the airline. And suddenly it turns out that there are routes. And there is transport, too.
What to do right now: build relationships and trust in advance
Build relationships and trust.
Ideally, do it in advance—while the riverbed is still intact.
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