Why Give a Damn:
It’s the most common way to find a job. It’s the single best way to fall in love. It’s the reason The Beatles and the iPhone came to exist. Introductions play a crucial role in all our lives. Join us for a Pay It Forward Intros experiment.
The author of this post, Robyn Scott, is a social entrepreneur and author. She is Co-Founder of Intros, which helps connectors unlock the power of their networks to help others, and Co-Founder of OneLeap, which helps the world’s leading organizations become more innovative by working with the world’s leading entrepreneurs.
Our friends and connections give us few gifts more important and meaningful than connections to their friends and connections.
What if each time we received an intro we chose to pay it forward and connect two new people?
We thank them in the moment. But often, as these new connections flourish, we forget to share their impact with the very people who made each possible.
So what if, once a year, we thoughtfully and systematically thanked every person who had given us gifts of connection?
This is the question I asked myself last Christmas. In trying to answer it, together with a friend, I ran an experiment in gratitude.
The story of this experiment in gratitude, and the incredibly powerful and warm response it provoked, struck a chord with thousands of people around the world. Many have since become users of Intros, the product we built, inspired by the experiment, to unlock the power of networks, by tapping into people’s natural goodwill and generosity. We are particularly proud to have the Unreasonable Community as some of our most avid users.
Now, nearly a year on, we’ve been asking ourselves a new question:
What if each time we received an intro, instead of thinking about what we owed, we chose instead to pay it forward, and connect two new people?
We’ve all, at some point in our lives, felt the transformative power of an introduction
Imagine the problems solved, the opportunities created and the friendships formed—if every one introduction catalyses another two, and so on? We’ve all, at some point in our lives, felt the transformative power of an introduction. Whether it’s meeting some one we work with, learn from, or love.
And it’s more than just a chance to give to others. Giving helps the giver too. We’ve been lucky enough to have as an advisor Professor Adam Grant, author of Give and Take, and an expert in the relationship between giving and professional success. His groundbreaking work has shown that, across all fields, the most giving people are also the most successful. And making good introductions is, of course, one of the most powerful and easiest ways to be more giving.
So this giving Tuesday, we’re thrilled to team up with Adam Grant, to launch the Pay it Forward experiment in generosity.
Please join us to see if we can create a giant chain reaction of giving: intros.to/payitfwd