Refrigerator Rights Relationships

Had breakfast this morning with two friends who’ve been inviting me to join them for two years. I kicked myself a couple of times under the table for not doing it sooner.

Recently, I’ve come to the conclusion that my circle, the group of people I come in contact with on a regular basis and from whom I can gain ideas and feedback, is too small. Like many of you, I meet a lot of people but don’t spend much quality time with them. And yes, you can work with the same people every day and not spend much quality time with them. So, I’m expanding my circle. I’m making a commitment to create more opportunities for connections.

There’s a wonderful book about networking and communicating, Never Eat Alone, by Keith Ferrazzi. He says we need more people in our lives with whom we have refrigerator rights relationships; “the kind that are comfortable, informal and intimate enough to let us walk into one another’s kitchens and rummage through the refrigerator without asking.”

How many folks do you have refrigerator rights relationships with? If you can name them all on one hand—and they all live in your house—that’s too few.