Kill the echo chamber

I recently attended the Sustainability Social, a networking group for people working in sustainability across multiple sectors. The group meets at Camino in KX, every second Monday of the month if you’re interested in future events.

It was the first time I’d attended, and I knew no one – not the event organiser, nor a single person on the invite list. I admit I was a little nervous, but I resolved to be positive and open. After all, that’s the whole point of networking – to meet new and interesting people.

I arrived early on, and very soon, more sustainability professionals turned up and the room filled with people. Within minutes I was engaged in conversation with another new business Founder. As a very recent Founder myself, I was delighted to have discovered someone to share common ground – to lament the challenges and revel in the joys of running our own businesses. Soon after that, I unknowingly met four other mutual connections. I felt like some kind of LinkedIn Super Networker, knowing so many of the same people!

What it made me realise is that networking events are fabulous for making you feel like you belong. Like you are part of a tribe. Your role in that community is validated. You fit in. And that’s to be expected – after all, human beings are social creatures and we all want to feel like we belong.

The more people I spoke to, the more connections I realised we all shared. In a visual illustration, it would have resembled neurons and synapses firing and connecting all over the place. I fundamentally questioned the six degrees of separation theory at that event – I met six different people all of whom I had a connection with in some way. Two degrees of separation would have been a more accurate description.

Whilst I walked away from the event feeling elated to have met more people that are part of my sustainability tribe, I equally questioned whether we’re all just swimming in the same pool. Are we not all just existing in our own echo chamber? How can we really expect to change our world for good, if we keep mixing with the same businesses, sharing the same ideas, and exploring the same ground? Sharing best practice of course has its place, but I came to realise tonight that existing in the same bubble limits us. To solve our environmental and societal problems, we need to do more than lean into our tribe. We need outside perspective. We need to hear different voices. We need to seek inspiration from other unexpected sources.

From tomorrow, I pledge to attend one completely unrelated networking event, to meet people that have no knowledge of the sustainability world I operate in. And I know already that I will find it an enriching experience. I know I will learn something new, and certainly that I will meet someone I have absolutely no prior connection to. Who knows how that experience will inspire me. But I’m not abandoning my tribe any time soon.

Sustainability Social is held on every second Monday at Camino, King’s Cross.