3 Theories of Effective Communication: Dunbar, Granovetter, McCracken

When reflecting on communities and communication between people in large groups, always keep in mind the basic principles that human communication is based on.

There are 3 theories that will help you make daily communication with partners, friends, and loved ones more meaningful, effective, and deeper.

The authors of these theories are Robin Dunbar, Mark Granovetter, and Greg McCracken. Let’s discuss each of them:

Robin Dunbar and his number

In 1992, British anthropologist and evolutionary psychologist Robin Dunbar first described the relationship between the maximum number of primates in a given group and the size of their neocortex (the area of the brain responsible for higher nerve functions: awareness, sensory perception, etc.).

Dunbar noticed that one monkey is capable of maintaining close contact with only 80 other primates and linked this limitation to the characteristics of the animals’ brain cortex.

Dunbar then applied this conclusion to humans. He discovered that humans can effectively maintain and develop relationships with a maximum of 100 to 230 contacts. When you remove your closest friends and people like dentists and masseurs who you only see occasionally, this number drops to about 150. This is known as Dunbar’s number.

When developing this theory, Dunbar identified 4 layers that make up our social circle:

A group of 5 people — relatives, close friends we are in touch with almost every day.

A group of 15 people — friends and acquaintances we see several times a month.

A group of 50 people — acquaintances we interact with regularly but rarely.

A group of 150 people — people we interact with circumstantially and do not know very deeply.

Connections beyond 150 people, Dunbar called “parasocial one-way relationships.”

Sociologists have calculated how much time it takes to enter a particular group on average.

To join a group of 150 people — ≈ 50 hours.

In a group of 50 people — ≈ 100 hours.

In a group of 15 people — ≈ 200 hours.

In a group of 5 people — more than 200 hours.

Here it is useful to perform an exercise:

Organize your entire address book according to the model proposed by Dunbar.

Distribute friends and acquaintances among the groups described above, without exceeding the established numbers (5–15–50–150). This will help you not only systematize your environment but also better understand your own relationship with some acquaintances and colleagues.

The group of 150 people described above has an important feature — we interact with them in a “weak tie” mode. We will further consider the theory about them.

Mark Granovetter and the Theory of Weak Ties

In the 1970s, American sociologist Mark Granovetter proposed a very simple and elegant classification of social ties — strong and weak.

Strong ties are relatives and close friends, those to whom we have a strong emotional attachment. Weak ties are acquaintances and friends, colleagues, and classmates. Those with whom we have little in common, except for work, study, or circumstances.

Applying this classification to statistical data, Granovetter saw a paradoxical thing: it is weak ties that bring us maximum benefit and open up new opportunities.

Granovetter found that it is acquaintances and friends who often help in finding work and advancing up the career ladder.

And this is logical: in the circle of close people, you are in the same information environment and live in a familiar, fairly uniform mode. But if you are faced with a completely new task, with which no one in your environment has ever dealt with, it will be very difficult for you to solve it without involving new contacts. This is why it is so important to maintain a broad circle of weak ties — with them, your opportunities increase many times over.

Granovetter’s theory is confirmed by modern research. According to Big Data specialists, we receive most of the new information from weak ties and remote contacts in social networks.

A LinkedIn study found that employers find specialists for 85% of job vacancies through networking, and in 80% — 90% of cases, job postings are simply not published.

There are algorithms for maintaining weak ties.

1. Actively observe the person and stay aware of all their activities.
2. React to all important events in their life — congratulate them on their birthday, the birth of a child, or a promotion.
3. Don’t disappear — communicate regularly, even if it’s only once every few months, but don’t disappear for years.
4. Be sincere.

I have a good post on Linkedin about this.

Make sure your weak ties are diversified.

Having 150 acquaintances who are entrepreneurs is very useful for business, but it’s good to have outlets in different areas of life and social groups: medicine, journalism, art, sports. Divide your weak ties into sectors by direction and monitor the balance between them.

However, you should remember that not all contacts and events where you interact with other people can be useful to you. Mechanically maintaining hundreds of acquaintances won’t create high-quality social capital, but will only waste time.

This is warned by journalist and writer Greg McKeown, and it will be useful for everyone to learn from his experience.

Greg McKeown and the exposure of networking

In 2015, Greg McKeown, author of the bestseller “Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less,” wrote an article in Harvard Business Review entitled “99% of Networking is a Waste of Time.”

In it, he outlined 5 tips on how to approach networking and practice it effectively.

1. Don’t think about the first impression. Everyone who tries to look good at the first meeting immediately blends in with hundreds of other networkers and is quickly forgotten. Be yourself — and you will be remembered.
2. 99% of networking is a waste of time. As a rule, any information obtained at large meetings and conferences can be easily read in a digest the next day. Don’t waste time on such events.
3. The key to networking is to stop networking. In reality, no one wants to constantly communicate in networking mode. People need a real conversation, genuine friendship, and a human connection. Be sincere and open.
4. You don’t have to attend loud events. It’s much more important to know where the people you need are — and go there. The scale of the event does not equal its informativeness or meaning.
5. Don’t get carried away with socializing. Greg McKeown advises staying away from the hustle and bustle to avoid being distracted by meaningless events and meeting specifically with those who you really need.

So, how to be effective in networking?

By combining these three theories. Then we get a working algorithm for creating and developing your social capital:

1️⃣ Organize your environment, use a notebook, and apply Dunbar’s theory in practice, consciously approaching the search for new contacts and maintaining old ones.

2️⃣ Expand your circle of “weak” ties and make sure it is as diverse as possible.

3️⃣ While following the first two steps, don’t waste time on meaningless networking, and instead, selectively get to know those who genuinely interest you.

Social capital is an essential resource that requires attention and a systematic approach. Those who study their environment, skillfully communicate, and work on strengthening their social circle lay a solid foundation for their future development, both professionally and personally.

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