A friend recently told me about the book Strange Red Cow, a collection old 18th and 19th century classified ads. You remember those? Folks eager to connect to other people through a small, defined amount of text? Basically, Twitter in print.

Finding what they’re looking for

In looking over all the missed connections in classifieds I was reminded how, for centuries, people have tried to share and connect. I remember reading over classifieds and wondering about the people who posted. Did they find what they were looking for? Did “he” ever find the woman who stood next to him in line? Now, every second on Twitter, people publish equally succinct posts which reach out to each other for help, to share, or to connect.

The cost of missed connections at work

In the workplace, it’s been known forever that the cost of missed connections costs companies millions of dollars in lost knowledge or missed expertise. Everyday thousands of employees miss the opportunity to find people who can make what they’re doing less redundant or more valuable. What’s the ROI of a fully networked, 100% connected workforce? What’s the value of having all those connections saved for others to profit from?