3.3 Ensuring you stay current
Searching for the answer to a problem in the way described in the previous section, is developmental in itself. You learn new things, adapt and apply them, and then have new abilities to add to your skills profile. This is important in career terms as most are subject to almost constant changes. Networks help you to keep up to date with these changes as information and ideas flow through them.
For instance, at a community group meeting it is likely that as many ideas will be shared in huddles during coffee, as during the formal meeting itself. Socially, the same is true. You are just as likely to find out about the latest gadgets from a conversation with friends, as from advertisements. Of course today the Internet makes it possible to connect up with people whom you might never meet in another way.