246. Shared Wisdom: How Communication Defines Culture and Builds Community

Why good communication is the key to good communities.

Community and communication go hand-in-hand. For Sandy Pentland, the culture and cohesion of any group “has to do with the stories [people] tell each other.”

Pentland is a professor at MIT, where he helped create and direct the MIT Media Lab. As a pioneer in computational social science, he’s using data to map social networks and decode communication. In his latest book, Shared Wisdom: Cultural Evolution in the Age of AI, he explores the interplay between human culture, technological development, and societal change — arguing that communication is the tool that enables groups to achieve these advancements and to cohere throughout them. “Stories are the stuff of culture,” he says. “Sharing stories educates the community… defining the worldview and culture of that group.”

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Pentland and host Matt Abrahams explore what our communication patterns reveal about group dynamics and organizational health. From the “honest signals” in our interactions to strategies for strengthening remote work connections, Pentland shares how better communication can fuel more connected communities.

Episode Reference Links:

• Sandy Pentland
• Sandy’s Book: Shared Wisdom
• Ep.137 When Words Aren’t Enough: How to Excel at Nonverbal Communication 
• Ep.65 Ties That Bind: Why Remote and Hybrid Teams Need the Right Connection 

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Chapters:

• (00:00) - Introduction
• (02:56) - Honest Signals & Human Behavior
• (04:49) - The Sociometric Badge Research
• (06:19) - Human Connection in Remote Work
• (07:36) - Organizations as Networks
• (10:08) - How Ideas Spread in Groups
• (13:19) - Bringing the Right People Together
• (14:47) - Stories as Cultural DNA
• (17:30) - The Final Three Questions
• (22:28) - Conclusion

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