Page 85 - Make Work Great

Clarity Within Relationships

chain. Instead, each of us works on an interrelated piece of a broader
puzzle. Our assignments come in from the crystalline network; they
are shaped and changed by it as we go. Our work involves others in
the network, and our output, when it’s ready, is delivered to multiple
points in the network. Each of us is not only a machine doing the
work, but also an interface to the broader system that does it.
So the crystalline network in Figure 3.1 is far more than an inven-
tory of who you spend your time talking to. It is, as a whole, the driver
of your role, your activity, and your output at work. It is the environ-
ment that creates your work and the environment you create through
your work, all in one.
The network is the manager. The network is the customer. The
network is the coworker. The network is the workplace.

Your Network Upgrade
Let’s be clear. When we talk about “the crystalline network,” we’re not
talking about a geological item purchased at a new age bookstore and
hung in your entryway to help balance invisible forces. We’re simply
speaking of a system of people, or nodes, and the communication
paths, or links, between them. You represent one node; your connec-
tion to the network is simply the quantity and quality of your links.
Those links are the paths between you and those who are fi guratively
around you in your structure.

We have defined two “network competencies” so far in this book:
being overt about your tasks, and seeking clarity within your relation-
ships when your overtness raises questions. Hopefully, it’s becoming
apparent that these competencies are more than just general notions
of what to talk about with your colleagues. They’re an interrelated
pair of disciplines that together comprise the way in which you wire
yourself to your workplace.
The act of being overt raises questions; the act of seeking clar-
ity provides answers. Every answer raises questions, and every ques-
tion suggests answers. The repetition of the question/answer cycle

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