Weak Ties At Work
Most people tend to think that strong ties are the most important ties to make. However, making weak ties seems to be just as important, especially in the workplace. Strong ties tend to create a network that does not reach very far—you are likely to know many of the same people as your strong ties know. Weak ties, on the other hand, extend the reach of your network drastically. Weak ties know people that you would otherwise not come into contact with. As the article notes, LinkedIn is a place where weak ties can be important. People will look to their LinkedIn connections (most of which are weak ties) for job opportunities through personal messages.
The same weak ties that are important on LinkedIn are also important in the everyday workplace. Not only do co-workers extend your network and increase your chances of advancing in your career, but they can also expand your web of knowledge. Generally, strong ties have similar mindsets and therefore similar views of the world. Weak ties, however, will generally have a different view of the world. This person can expand your web of knowledge and expose you to a different thought process that you might not have thought of before.
When this is all put together, it is clear to see that weak ties have essentially the same importance as strong ties. While strong ties can help us with many things in life, work-life is dominated by weak ties.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobmorgan/2014/03/11/every-employee-weak-ties-work/