A clever experiment conducted by Columbia professors Paul Ingram and Michael Morris demonstrated how people tend to not mix at mixers — even professionals in business. In 2007, Ingram and Morris organised an after-work networking event for 100 business executives affiliated with the school’s MBA programme and asked them what they hoped to gain from such an event. More than 95pc said that they wanted to meet new people. The researchers then had everyone wear a badge that tracked the people they talked to. After the event, the researchers found that, despite their intention to meet new people, most of the executives spent a majority of the event talking with folks they already knew.

(Harvard Business Review)

Published in Dawn, Business & Finance weekly, June 27th, 2016