Circular networking: Circular economy applied to business relations in Concentrazione

By Alberto Bezzi

The book presents Circular Networking activities I have carried out from 2015 until today through Concentrazione. It is not meant to be a handbook, but a book describing through the many and real successful experiences I have had over the years, my career history, and several practical suggestions, the model and formula of Circular Networking of Concentrazione, a unique model in Italy to solve corporate problems. The book is dedicated to all the professionals, managers, entrepreneurs, consultants who are looking for solutions to corporate problems they have to deal with every day. People who share the core values of Circular Networking: trust, generosity, discussion and listening, reliability and responsibility. In this book you will therefore find information, some advice, methods and strategies to turn Circular Networking into an essential tool to deal with the challenges and critical issues we face every day in our professional activity.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brandtopia Edizioni
• Release date: Nov 10, 2022
• ISBN: 9788894662269

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

The book presents Circular Networking activities I have carried out from 2015 until today through Concentrazione. It is not meant to be a handbook, but a book describing through the many and real successful experiences I have had over the years, my career history, and several practical suggestions, the model and formula of Circular Networking of Concentrazione, a unique model in Italy to solve corporate problems. The book is dedicated to all the professionals, managers, entrepreneurs, consultants who are looking for solutions to corporate problems they have to deal with every day. People who share the core values of Circular Networking: trust, generosity, discussion and listening, reliability and responsibility.

In the next pages you will therefore find information, some advice, methods and strategies to turn Circular Networking into an essential tool to deal with the challenges and critical issues we face every day in our professional activity.

My book also provides me with the opportunity to say thank you to the over 2,000 managers, professionals and entrepreneurs who have already joined the circular network of Concentrazione, because it is thanks to the relationship of trust and collaboration we have established that my dream, that is organizing the right meeting at the right time with the right people in order to solve problems, could come true.

Together with them I could deal with and solve most of the requests for solutions I received in these years of passionate, challenging and entertaining work.

It is again thanks to them if the network that meets and collaborates on the concentrazione.eu website is not just an ecosystem of relationships, but a true community of professionals brought together also by mutual friendship and esteem.

In times when selfishness, lonely leaderships and social distancing prevail, the world of relations of Concentrazione proves to be the best way to confirm an old African saying: If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.

See you on concentrazione.eu!

1

THE VALUE OF RELATIONS

IN THE TIME OF A PANDEMIC

At the beginning of 2020 I had started writing this book on Circular Networking and the activities I have carried out since I created Concentrazione in 2015.

While I was rearranging my notes, my presentations and the many successful stories collected over the years, I was listening to the first news coming from Wuhan about the spread of a new virus. Like most Italians, I was not worried and when the first COVID cases were discovered in the town of Codogno, Northern Italy, I just thought doctors would soon and easily treat them.

Like almost everybody else I proved to be wrong, but maybe mine was just hope things could go well.

On March 11th, 2020, the first lockdown began in Italy: except for healthcare professionals, police and public transport workers, Italians were forced to stay home and allowed to go out only for work, health, and emergency reasons or to buy groceries. On March 22nd even non-essential business activities were temporarily closed and the only ones kept open were pharmacies, newsagents, tobacconists and grocery stores.

Many people were forced to stay separated from their parents, friends and colleagues and made up for the distance singing on the balconies, trusting we would soon be back to normal life.

Can you remember the mantra from those days? Let’s keep a distance now so we can soon go back to hugging each other.

Unfortunately, it was not like that and further restrictions were enforced all over the world to control the spread of the pandemic.

After a deceptive slowdown in cases and what seemed a return to normal life in summer 2020, in October 2020 the second wave hit and the Italian government enforced some new restrictions that, in different ways, were applied until March 5th, 2021. At the beginning of 2021 the first vaccines became available, but some COVID variants were also discovered.

Between the beginning of 2020 and the end of 2021, the pandemic caused over 5 million deaths all over the world.

The restrictive measures taken to stop the pandemic have had an impact on every aspect of the life of billions of people, but the one that may have suffered from the most important consequences, still not entirely studied, is the world of relationships.

The pandemic confirmed how much we need each other in any sphere of our life, from personal to work relationships.

Since the first lockdown, even the most less tech-savvy people surrendered to the use of digital technologies to keep or create new relationships.

According to the report produced by Censis, the Italian research institute on social conditions, in collaboration with Centro Studi Tim, the volume of network traffic and the use of mobile applications registered in Italy in the 15 days following the enforcement of the first restrictive measures was between 70% and 80% higher compared to pre-lockdown conditions, much higher than that of other European countries.

Digital communication platforms such as Zoom, Google Meet, WhatsApp and many others became familiar tools in the daily life of everyone, from children to the eldest, and millions of people replaced vis-a-vis friend, love and professional relationships with chats and videocalls.

Remote working procedures, distance learning, and in some cases even telemedicine, proved many activities, but not all of them of course, could be easily carried out from anywhere you stayed.

In the world of labour there has been a sharp increase in the number of managers, freelancers, entrepreneurs and companies that, since the beginning of the pandemic, have made use of remote working options.

I am sure there are business managers who regretted not being able to check on their employees personally, as well as managers and professionals who still cannot accept the lack of a coffee break with colleagues or of endless office meetings; however, I am also sure there are many who discovered the unexpected benefits of remote working, starting from more time to