Concrete + culture

I’ve recently been reading Robert Putnam’s Bowling Alone in which he makes the case that, for a society to run effectively, networks of trust, shared values and reciprocity are key. They reduce the costs of doing business, fuel creativity and innovation, create communal support structures, improve mental health, make a city more attractive to live in and much much more besides.

The level to which these networks of trust exist within a society or industry, Putnam refers to as “social capital”.

There is obviously a lot more to this concept, which he unpacks at great length in his book and, as with any concept, it has triggered debate over the years. At its simplest though, it elegantly articulates how the “culture” of a place is key to making the “concrete” work.

Put it another way, the more networked a place is (# relationships) and the more interactions are trusted (ɑ reciprocity), the higher the level of social capital, thereby reducing the costs of doing business, fueling innovation etc..

The same concept I believe can be valuable, not just for civic leaders looking to revitalise their towns and cities, but also for…

• corporate execs wanting to drive growth and innovation;

• co-space developers needing to attract and retain tenants; and

• conference organisers seeking to scale impact and income.

The plan is, over the next few months, to share examples of some organisations growing their social capital to do just that, plus models and frameworks of how to apply it to your own city, company, co-space or conference.

If you’re interested in this space, stay tuned, and if you’ve done interesting work in this arena that you’d like to share here, get in touch. It would be great to learn more. 

Onwards and happy building.