Chapter 2. The Law of the Few: Connectors, Mavens, and Salesmen
1.What are connectors, mavens, and salesmen? A connector is someone that knows lots of people. People like this have a truly extraordinary knack of making friends and acquaintances. A Maven is one who accumulates knowledge. They have information on a lot of different products, prices, or places. Mavens are more socially motivated. Mavens are information brokers, sharing and trading what they know. Salesmen are the people that have a powerful or persuasive personality that can draw others into their own rhythms and dictate the terms of the interaction. A salesman can not be resisted.
2.What is a “small-world problem”? A "small world problem" is how are human beings connected? How does an idea, or a trend, or a piece of news travel through a population?
3.What is “six degrees of separation”? Can it truly be tested? "Six degrees of separation" is the theory that anyone on the planet can be connected to any other person through a chain of acquaintances that has no more than five intermediaries. Yes, it can be tested as proven by Milgram's chain letter.
4.What makes someone a connector? To be a connector you must know lots of people. Their importance is also a function of the kinds of people they know. They are people whom all of us can reach in only a few steps because they manage to occupy many different worlds, subcultures, and niches
5.Take Gladwell’s “quiz” on pp. 39-40. We will discuss it when we are able to post online My score was 74.
6.What makes connectors so necessary in society? Connectors are necessary in society because we rely on them to give us access to opportunities and worlds to which we don't belong.
7.What does the phrase “the strength of weak ties” mean? "The strength of weak ties" means that your acquaintances occupy a very different world than you and are much more likely to know something that you don't.
8.Why did Paul Revere’s ride succeed when William Dawes’ ride did not? Paul Revere's ride succeeded when William Dawes' ride did not because Revere was a connector. He was gregarious and intensely social. He knew just how to spread the news as far and wide as possible. William Dawes did not. He was an ordinary man with a normal social circle.
9.Describe any connectors or mavens from your school, family, or friends. I have myself and a couple of other family members that I would call connectors. We have a lot of friends, new and old, that we like to keep "track" of. My husband is a Maven because he researches all bigger purchases and gets the best deals. He is always glad to share his findings with other.
10.How much do you rely on word-of-mouth information? I rely heavily on people to connect me with other people and to new infromation.
11.How did mavens influence the sales of Hush Puppies? Mavens influenced the sale of Hush Puppies because they were obsessed with getting the best deal and they wanted to tell everyone about it too.
12.What are the positives and negatives of being a maven? One positive of being a Maven is not so much what they know but how they pass it along. They obiviously have the most information and are information brokers. The negative might be that they are almost obsessive with their knowledge. They can remember prices, to the cents, of cans of coffee they bought ten years ago.
13.What makes someone a salesman? A salesman is someone who has the skills to persuade us when we are unconvinced of what we are hearing. A great salesman is one who has the number and quality of answers to the objections commonly raised by potential clients.
14.According to two studies he cites, what are the three things that Gladden says make salesmen so effective? Three things that makes salesmen so effective are that little things can make as much of a difference as big things. The second thing is that non-verbal cues are as or more important than verbal cues. The third is that persuasion often works in ways that we do not appreciate. Subliminal messages are incredibly subtle.
15.What are “micromovements”? Micromovements are the jumps and shifts of body and face.
16.What makes someone good at charades? Someone good at charades is emotionally contagious!
17.What traits of the connector, maven, and salesman do you see in yourself? The trait that I have of a connector is that I like people and make friends/acquaintances easily. The maven trait is that I have the need to help. As for a salesman trait, I am energetic and full of enthusiasm.
18.Which traits do you wish you possessed? I wish I possessed more of the art of persuasion.
19.Are these traits able to be developed or are we simply born with them? Some of the traits, such as synchrony, we are born with. Other traits, such as persuasion can be learned.
20.What disadvantages are linked with any of the three classifications? The disadvantage of the three classifications is the reaction of other people. In todays society you might be considered to much of a know-it-all.
