1.9. I.C.S.A.R.

Networking is in the first analysis respect for the values, moral foundation, ethics and nature of each other person. It does not have so much to do with education, years of experience, personal meetings, experience of prior work, etc… Someone who has been a dependable person will also be dependable in the virtual world if they have been in the real world. He or she can be in Brazil or in any another country of the world, that doesn't matter.

The question we all ask about our new connections is, will this new contact be good or bad for us? We've developed an own methodology for checking our contacts based on five basic points called I.C.S.A.R: that is defined in this way:

1. Identity:

Look for keywords presented in the online profiles of your contacts: What do you have in common? Friends, schools, ex-employers, affiliations, history?

2. Complementary skills:

What does this person offer that relates to our abilities, knowledge and complementary experiences? What skills do we share?

3. Synergies:

To what extent do we have common projects that we might work on?
Can this other person s ideas challenge my own thinking and give me the energy to succeed in new ways? Do the sum of our abilities, knowledge and experiences assemble like this: 1+1 = 3?

4. Leverage:

Can we accelerate our growth and wealth by working together with a minimum of extra effort?

5. Resonance:

Also known as “chemistry”, "click", "vibe" between people. To what extent do our values, history, beliefs, passions, purposes and energy resound in the same frequency and move in the same direction?

All of those points are important, but in the opinion of the author, the key is resonance. Resonance is music, love, passion, one's own mission and purpose in life. That is fundamental to the construction of confidence between partners.

Sometimes you may already feel that you do not like someone, but you don't know the why? Is it the absence of resonance? At other times, you feel that the song is pleasant in the beginning, but after some time something changes and you discover that your basic ideals are not aligned as you expected.

That can happen even with long term friends who have been very close in the past. To the degree that we are conscious of that fact, it may be better terminate that relationship. Sometimes, if the relationship is really important for the organization, it is best to appoint another person for manage that partnership.

draft by Octavio Pitaluga 6/22/07