The activity at which Idechong so naturally excels is also referred to as "network weaving,"a term coined by social network analysts Valdis Krebs and June Holley, based on their extensive work exploring how to build resilience in rural communities in Appalachian Ohio. And although he might not have done so explicitly, Idechong was demonstrating several of network weaving’s core principals.
Krebs and Holley describe how a resilient community network emerges through four stages: First, small, autonomous clusters emerge, often without any guidance, among individuals and organiza- tions with shared interests, values, and goals. In the Palauan example, this might be represented by the close connections between the commercial fishermen or the reef divers. These clusters serve to reinforce interest politics, and if their interconnectivity ends there, these groups can remain oppositional and the larger social structure weak and brittle to disruption.
In the second and more intentional stage of network weaving, translational leaders like Idechong create a hub and spoke model, with themselves as the initial hub, connecting many different kinds of constituencies.