Quite a cool social network paper on the power of weak links

People linking disparate groups together (aka Structural Holes aka weak links aka High choice links) produce better ideas. 

This article outlines the mechanism by which brokerage provides
social capital. Opinion and behavior are more homogeneous within
than between groups, so people connected across groups are more
familiar with alternative ways of thinking and behaving. Brokerage
across the structural holes between groups provides a vision of options otherwise unseen, which is the mechanism by which brokerage
becomes social capital. I review evidence consistent with the hypothesis, then look at the networks around managers in a large
American electronics company. The organization is rife with structural holes, and brokerage has its expected correlates. Compensation,
positive performance evaluations, promotions, and good ideas are
disproportionately in the hands of people whose networks span
structural holes. The between-group brokers are more likely to express ideas, less likely to have ideas dismissed, and more likely to
have ideas evaluated as valuable. I close with implications for creativity and structural change.