Getting the Cheese

The early bird gets the worm. The second mouse gets the cheese. My brothers are both Doctors. Perhaps that is why I am not. I saw the years and years of study and community service they did (and do), and decided that Actuarial Science was an easier mountain to climb. You have to pick your hard.

One observation was that while my days could be trying, no one died. Medics in your life put the hour download of a tough day at the office in perspective. They also specialised more and more. Knowing a hell of a lot about a small area of complexity. One is now a Professor of Vascular Surgery. The other is a Paediatric Cardiologist.

Maybe extending the analogy too far, someone who studied finance can still have their own career and finances in a mess. Understanding a small corner of the financial universe doesn’t make you a career coach or financial planner. Circles of competence. Asking for help doesn’t mean you aren’t competent.

Protagion - Active Career Management is hosting a weeklong virtual conference (#ProWeek) with some free sessions, and some sessions exclusive to those subscribers you have asked for regular support for their career choices.

Active Career Management

Money laundering is when criminals try place their dodgy dealings in the financial system so they can spend it. A big part of the fight against this form of crime revolves around tracking the “source of wealth”. You don’t pitch up one day with two bags of cash to buy a Ferrari without questions being asked. Anyone living obviously beyond their means (spending more than they earn) is going to be suspicious. Unless they have a good explanation, and evidence. Rich generous parents or something other than the traditional “get a job” or “start a job”. Building capital requires a source. Bradley Shearer founded Protagion - Active Career Management in an analogous way to Fundamental Stock Pickers. The source of wealth is often very traditional. A job. A job comes with choices. Investing in continuous education. Identifying roles you want. Building the skills for them. Converting your skills into capital to support that. Protagion is hosting a virtual conference (#ProWeek) to explore some of the ideas. I will be participating in both an open panel on “financial independence and diversifying income”, and a smaller group discussion for subscribers focusing on my ideas around Financial Yoga.

 

Good Green Vibes

Two of my referees for my return to Old Mutual were the same two referees when I left the company and ventured overseas 12 years ago. As part of my first day reading, I was going through the Annual Report to Shareholders which referred to the 175-year-old company motto of “a certain friend in uncertain times”. The line between colleague, client, and friend can become very fuzzy given how much time we spend dedicated to work. I like that fuzziness. I like the fluidity which recognises that we are not just cogs in the machine. I think the warmth with which I have been welcomed back reflects well on the company, in a world where we have to acknowledge that wealth is created in containers. That can sometimes lead to excess competition, secrecy, and dehumanisation. Old Mutual is both a 175-year-old institution and a large publicly listed company. It isn’t a human and doesn’t own the humans in it. I don’t want to deify or anthropomorphize it, but I do look forward to seeing the people in it again and working with them, and the various stakeholders affected by buildings with green roofs.

Touched with Green

Winking in the Dark

There is not enough work. Much of the work there is does not pay enough to have some left over to build capital. It is not simply a case of willingness to work. You must find a job that matches your skills and knowledge. Then it depends how many other people could do the job, and whether the employer/client specifically wants you. Ideally this would all be neatly mapped out like GPS. Insert destination, and a road map is provided. The challenge is we all need to eat. In a pure play meritocracy with 7.8 Billion people, there is for all but the Djokofednadals, always someone better. We operate behind smoke and mirrors to protect our containers. A friend told me about a reality show called “dating on the spectrum”, and how young adults with autism deal with the unpredictability of dating. A world where you hope someone stops “looking for someone better”. In some ways their yesses are yesses and noes are noes, and they deal with it. Imagine a world with full transparency where we were comfortable being open with our asks and offers. It would be pretty uncomfortable, but we would do less winking in the dark.

Winking in the Dark

Self Promotion

I hate interview processes and CV/Resume building. Partly because people who are good at interviews aren’t necessarily good at the job. Partly because hiring and firing is often just an opportunity to project prejudices and politics by dividing people into categories of good enough and not good enough. The interviewers and firers seldom hold themselves to the same standards as the person they are judging. The final decision seldom relies on anything other than gut feeling and hindsight justification. But such is life. Sometimes we just have to do things because that is how they are done. Writing a CV always felt nauseatingly self-promotional to me. A way I got around this was asking a few people I had worked closely, and well, with to write 100ish words (roughly the length of this post). Two or three authentic testimonials from people you have genuinely worked well with that demonstrate the skills and knowledge that are being looked for. My impression is that relationships and chance connections are the real catalyst for opportunity. Be part of the conversation and genuinely interested in other people. Do good work. Then change the way things are done.

Life is a Galton Board