Being religious is a lot like being a woman

I often find that I'm a bit of an Outsider in groups, but an Insider in the one-on-ones. I have a lot of great relationships wiht individuals but have the impression there's some sort of boys-club network going on behind the scenes that's not really accessible unless you get plastered at after work drinks and email around the sort of things that fall fould of the email Acceptable Use Policy.

There was an article in HBR that really influenced me about how women network. Even though I'm not a woman I suspect anyone who is in a group that precludes them from particpating in a lot of the workplace social rituals has similiar issues and mitigation mechanisms.

The term "Outsider/Insider" sums it up well for me, that feeling of having a lot of contacts inside an organisation, a lot of empathy with the organisation, but not quite being a part of it. It really allows you to enter a mental space where you can work on the organisation not in the organisation.

Update: Someone aksed for a link to the HBR article. It's subscriber only but a quick summary is on HB online and BNet