I just finished “Linked” by Albert-Laszlo Barabasi. It was a very interesting read – Barabasi is a mathematician at Notre Dame who specializes in network theory. The reason I picked the book up was because I had read about networks in Douglas K. Smith’s “On Value and Value” but I realized that I did not really understand what a network was (Smith mentions them throughout the book but never really explains them in any detail). Barabasi lays out a compelling story of how our ideas about networks have changed over the last few years and how we can take advantage of the new theories. It was a thoroughly enjoyable read and I recommend the book highly.

One of the interesting ideas in Linked is how many networks (particularly the Internet and social networks) have major “hubs” that are responsible for most of the links between nodes on the network. He goes into some detail about how these hubs function and their effect on the stability of a network. My interest in the book is from the viewpoint of the social networks that form in companies (such as PeopleSoft). One of the major changes that will occur when Oracle takes over later this year is that it will have a huge effect on the social network of the company. The “hubs” of that network may move to other positions, many of their links may be broken or they may move on to other work. This will have a profound effect on the company as a whole – new hubs will form, some linked between the old organization and new, others not. A recognition of this change will be important in creating a unified company quickly.

I am now reading another book related to networks: The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. I saw an article on Gladwell in Fast Company and I decided to pick his book up. It is interesting to have read Linked before reading Tipping Point – Linked goes into more of the detail of the mathematical theory behind networks, while Tipping Point (at least so far) is staying more at a high level. So far it has been a fun read, and the authors share format and writing style. I am about halfway through and plan to move on to his most recent book “Blink” when I am done.