Blog · Definitions
What Does It Mean to Network?
Two objections come up constantly: that it's a one-way practice, and that it can't be measured. The first is false; the second was true in 2021 — and has since changed in a way that's worth telling.
Published 11 November 2021 · revised 16 August 2026
First objection
"It's a one-way practice"
Whoever networks does it for their own advantage: that's true, and it doesn't take anything away. When a network really works, every member involved benefits from it — because each one can rely on a trustworthy structure to turn to.
There are people who twist all this for their own ends, as in any other field. If a notary does bad work, no one blames every notary.
The test
Watch what happens when you ask for nothing for six months. If the network keeps producing something for others, it wasn't one-way. If it stops, it was — and you were the one-way street.
Second objection
"It isn't a measurable science"
In 2021, this article disputed that with a certain bitterness: no marketing course teaches you how to build a referral network, and whoever does it professionally has no qualification to show for it.
It was a fair observation. The two missing things were precise: a body of stated rules, and public recognition of whoever applies them.
Without the first, every discussion stays one opinion against another. Without the second, anyone can call themselves an expert and no one can disprove it.
Universities always arrive after reality, and there isn't much to be done about that. But in the meantime, both things came into being anyway, outside the universities — which is what the section below is about.
One word at a time
What has changed since 2021
The two gaps flagged above have been closed. It's worth saying precisely, because it's rare that a complaint from five years ago can actually be resolved.
The body of rules
The discipline is called Relational Engineering, and it has a Founding Charter, six laws stated one by one, and a glossary in which every term has a definition.
And the results are published with their window and method, including the ones that don't work in our favour (Fifth law): that's the difference between a measurable discipline and one that merely claims to be.
Public recognition
The profession has a name — Referral Director — and a public register, kept by the E.S.S.E. Ingegneria delle Relazioni professional association under Law 4/2013, with membership requirements and a code of ethics.
It isn't a university degree, and it's exactly what was missing in 2021: a searchable list of who has taken on the commitment, verifiable by anyone.
In 2021, the rules and the register were both missing. Now both exist.
The first step
Where your company stands, in one number
AIRA-SCAN© measures the Relational Capital your company already has: ten questions, three minutes, no registration. Your browser calculates the score and shows it immediately, with the dimensions where you lose the most points.
The extended report then arrives by email, and within one working day someone calls you: you look at the result together and assess whether the Stoic Analysis AIRA-DX© makes sense for your company. It is free and limited to twelve a week, so it is not owed to whoever takes the check-up: it is decided together.
Prefer just to talk? The number is 0549 888808.