Beyond Television

One of the joys of being human is we are in it together. When you're mapping out a path, you can look at what other people are doing. This is where social capital kicks in. Being surrounded by people that you share enough in common with to believe their paths are paths open to you. You can see the skills that they need to do what they do. If you know them well enough, you can ask questions. Ideally, you want a holistic sense of the person. To know beyond the stories you attach to the job, or what you have seen on television. What is their actual day-to-day? In practical terms, what does the person do? Every week? On TV, you might see the exciting bits of law, with time-lapses of them spending all night for months in a room with a box of files. If you know someone, you see the journey, and the consequences of the job beyond the conspicuous. Subtle things like knowing their circle of friends and family. Their capacity for interests beyond work. Their health. Do they spend lots of time on spreadsheets? Do they write a lot? Do they read a lot? Are they mainly in meetings? What are their frustrations? How is their relationship with colleagues and bosses? What is the politics like? What are the barriers to entry and development?

The first mass-produced Television

Investing in Ecomaps

I am eagerly anticipating Brandon Stanton’s book “Humans”. A large part of our collective social capital is that we aren’t alone. Our lives are path dependent, and our perspectives limited, but that helps us see better as a team. Like blocking out the light so your image is clearer on your lockdown video chat. Not seeing, is a part of seeing. Most stories of financial security start with a source of income. Before that, you have to develop the appropriate skills and knowledge. Appropriate to the target job. Appropriate to your starting circumstances. Appropriate to your finances. To do that, you have to gather information. I had two gap years between school and university. Lots of conversations. There was no LinkedIn to see a world’s worth of career paths. I benefitted from the privilege of amazing teachers, introductions, and friends of friends. An “Ecomap” is a diagram used by social workers showing someone’s social and personal relationships. Books like Humans and tools like LinkedIn democratise the lessons freely available if you pause to gather information. If you invest in your Ecomap.

White Knight

It is a privilege to be treated as an individual rather than a category. To be seen. Part of that comes from not having to be standardised to fit into a system (a job, a role, an income). Capital doesn’t care about you. In a good way. Capital compounds just like Privilege. Money makes money. Social Connections make Social Connections. In my 11 years of earning a salary, most of my colleagues were white and English speaking. Most South Africans working outside South Africa are White and English Speaking. But that isn’t how I was seen. I was Trevor. An individual. Yet, behind the majority of my colleagues (and clients) were family and friends that helped. Get the CV to the top of the pile. Skip the pile altogether. Pay for the university. Be a role model. Be a mentor. Josh Waitzkin talks about “Numbers to leave Numbers. Form to leave Form”. He is talking chess and martial arts at an elite level, but what he means is Structure disappears when knowledge is embodied. Racism may no longer be explicit like when we were learning how the horse moves, but it doesn’t disappear just because we start liking each other.

"Numbers to leave Numbers. Form to leave Form."

Josh Waitzkin on embodied knowledge