Consequential Strangers

Thanks to career expert and blogger Marci Alboher.  She posted a link on Facebook to a Wall Street Journal piece, An Old-School Social Network, which chronicles the “Wednesday 10,” a group of men, then in their twenties, who convened their first meeting in 1957:

“The Wednesday 10 comprised, at various points, more than 20 men; the goal was a number small enough to maintain intimacy yet large enough to ensure that at least 10 members would show up for each of the monthly Wednesday-night meetings. No more than two representatives of any one industry were permitted. The idea was to combat insularity, to keep the men connected to people and events outside their own professions.”

Sounds like a group of consequential strangers to me!  Near the end of the piece, the reporter notes, “The men had hoped their sons would create an adjunct group that would one day assume the Wednesday 10 mantle but none took the initiative.”  But perhaps their daughters have.  Marci has been part of two writers’ groups.  And in 2007,  when I first interviewed writer Karen Robinovitz she had co-founded a similar organization of women,  “Secret Weapon.”  A different aspect of Karen’s story is featured in Chapter 5 but here’s how she explained the idea:

“I know a lot of women in my industry but not a lot of doctors, financiers, lawyers.  I was talking to two of my best friends,  an event planner and a person in the candy industry.  We wanted to create a forum [comprised of] women at the top of their game, who have a lot to offer intellectually and spiritually, and who could trust and support each other.”

Although the membership of the Wednesday 10 and Secret Weapon couldn’t be more different, both derive their strength from similar qualities.

Diversity. These groups are formed around a common interest or need–in this case, career development–and yet the members are  different from each other.  Even if they’re all men or all women, even if they are all upwardly mobile, some came from humble beginnings, some led more advantaged lives.  And of course in both groups members were from different fields.

Elasticity. Meeting new people on common ground stretches us, helps us see the world through a different lens. Like Karen Robinovitz, Ed Meyer, a former chief executive of Gray Advertising, found that each meeting gave him insights into fields other than his own. “It was like reading a newspaper cover to cover.”

Generosity. People have to be willing to open doors to opportunity.  Although they were “aspiring” when they first joined, it’s no accident that fifty years later, the surviving members  of the Wednesday 10 are highly accomplished. They gave each other leads, made introductions.  Secret Weapon strove for a similiar ethic: “We’re the types in high school who didn’t mind sharing their notes,” Karen told me. “Everyone is incredibly successful dynamic, giving, open and to be in an atmosphere  where everyone else is, too.”