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Networking Issue 1.0: Developing a Question Base

It is often said among professionals in the Caribbean region, that everything rides on “who you know.”

Usually this is said with a slightly cynical undertone, implying that something less than honorable is involved in the awarding of jobs, contracts or promotions. Usually the person saying it implies that you can work all you want, but they know from harsh experience that merit is not as important as familiarity. They imply that there is something corrupt going on that is fundamentally unfair to those who are decent, play by the rules and have integrity.

I am here to confirm the fact that who you know is critical.

But not as important as who you are.

After all, all of us know either Beenie Man and Machel Montano (respective “Kings” of dancehall and soca.)

However, just because we know them does not mean that we will be inviting them into our companies to do that important Human Resource Audit. They might be fine for the Christmas Party programme, as they are both known for their ability to move audiences. However, the image of them as management consultants is a bit comical.

The fact is, the person who knows the right people, or is known by them deserves to get the advantage, but not because they happen to play at the same golf club or attend the same tea parties.

Instead, they have earned the right to be known by virtue of hard work of a particular kind that we in the Caribbean seem loathe to do, for factors that I hopefully will be able to discuss in future blogs on this topic. For now, let us say that the hard work to do is on “Who You Are.”

The Opportunity
Assuming that you are a professional working in one of the Caribbean countries, it is safe to say your opportunities to network are about to explode. Here in Jamaica, the largest of the CSME countries by population, we have 2.5 million people, and there are approximately 6 million people in the entire region.

In terms of GDP, the growth will even be larger as we become part of a market that is more than twice our size.

What can the professional do to prepare themselves for this opportunity?

Deepening One Area
The starting point, from my experience, is quite simple for those who enjoy their professions.

Pick an area of interest and deepen it.

Whether or not you actually ever become the world’s expert in the area is not important, yet. What is important is that you free up your creative juices, and engage your mind in its own expansion and training, and it has already given you an important clue on what to focus on — something you are already interested in.

It is a fact, however, that our education system in the region is not designed for this purpose, and you may have to teach yourself to tune into your interests, before even developing the will to pursue them. Such is the legacy of teaching that is geared towards passing the Common Entrance, GSAT, SEA, CAPE, CXC, and GCE exams.

Deepening your interest may mean doing some of the following, for example:

  • using Google to find websites devoted to the topic
  • downloading white papers in the field
  • finding and joining related professional bodies
  • locating others who share the interest
  • using online newsgroups to tune into the most recent developments (or creating them)
  • setting Yahoo! or Google news feeds to receive the latest news
  • learning how to use RSS to collect important datastarting, and commenting on blogs such as this onevisiting UWI library to research the topic
  • offer to give speeches on the area or host talk-shops at conferences
  • be available to the media for comment on the issue

These are only possible avenues to explore the interest, and the point is to start somewhere, anywhere, rather than to shy away from the overwhelming idea of being interviewed on prime-time television.

Authenticity
Ensure that the area is an authentic area of interest, and not one that is manufactured to “fit the market.”

Also, forget about trying to figure out “the job of the future.” When I was an undergraduate in the U.S., I remember after warning that the need for computer programmers was going to be far under that supply for the many year to come. At the time (1989) it was said to be an occupation that could not fail.

Fast forward to 2001 — when it was impossible to find a job as a programmer in the U.S. due to a combination of offshoring and new technology.

So, instead of trying to be a career obeah-man/woman, instead start with what you have a real and truthful interest in. If you like what you do, then simply start to believe that you can become an expert in that area, for no reason other than that it pleases you to do so.

While the area may not evoke words like “passion,” it is enough to start with just a sense of curiosity and a lot of questions that start to open up the possibility of answers that might be intriguing. It is said that real masters know more about the kinds of questions to ask, rather than the right answers to give. They know about the questions because they are always asking them, and never believe that they have reached the end of the story. In fact, they have accepted the fact that they might someday die with in the middle of a question, much in the way that Albert Einstein passed away while trying to achieve a Grand Unified Theory.

I am calling this way of thinking about connecting with others: “Question Based Networking.”

Organic vs. Forced
Thirdly, and fortunately, the work on Who You Are requires more patience, and tact than personality and force. Once the area of interest has been discovered, and it appears to be one that reflects an authentic curiosity, the final step is to allow one’s actions to unfold at a rate that is commensurate with the form of the question.

In other words, as one develops a series of questions related to the area of focus, and seeks to get them answered, what quite naturally evolves is a relationship with other people.

Why?

Because more often than not, their cooperation is vital in seeking answers, and in many cases they can help to share the questions themselves.

This process is quite organic, and natural, and is far cry from pretending to be interested at Chamber meetings, or trying to “Win Friends and Influence People” by feigning interest during stilted conversations.

For example, someone who has an interest in CSME and regional labour laws, could very well follow the questions they have all the way to various Ministers of Justice and Permanent Secretaries in governments of different countries! Someone with an interest in union negotiations could end up working with CEO’s of multinationals that must negotiate with multiple unions in a number of countries at the same time.

The key here is to allow the interest to grow at its own rate, and for the necessary courage and knowledge required at each stage to develop and mature.

As the process unfolds, what will naturally be there will be a network.

It will not be the kind of network in which your face is recognized from uptown or expensive fetes. Instead, you will be known for your Questions, and when people know you for your Questions, they will trust that you have something to say about some answers.

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Introducing HRMAJ Networking Weekly

Starting today, in a short speech that I will be delivering to a monthly HRMAJ meeting, I will kick off an interactive, online series on the topic of networking in a Caribbean context. It will culminate in the final edition of the series on November 16th which is the final day of the 2006 HRMAJ conference.

The arrival of the internet and computing technology has fundamentally changed the way in which networking is done, and the use of this blog as an interactive medium is one way in which I hope to introduce conference participants to my ideas on this topic.

Furthermore, it will present an opportunity to answer questions from those involved in the field on the topic, whether they plan to be at the conference or not.

For more information on the conference: see the HRMAJ website.

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The Dual Income Profession

In 1991 I was exposed to a fact that I have never forgotten.

In a training course that I have long forgotten, I learned that the profession I was about to enter full-time (I was an AT&T employee back then) had a bi-modal distribution of incomes.

What it simply meant was that consultants fell into two distinct groups — one group that earned a lot (median US$75k at the time) and another that earned much less (median $US45k.) The study went on to describe the difference in marketing techniques between the two groups.

Given that this was a time before the internet truly existed as we know it, the marketing techniques did not include an on-line component. However, the difference basically came down to consultants that used content-based approaches that reached a mass audience, and those that did not.

“Content-based approaches?”

Basically, it was saying that the more successful group relied on speeches, public seminars and other relatively high-risk, high-reward approaches to get the messages in which they believed, into the listening ears of large groups. They also wrote books, articles and other pieces for publication, once again for mass consumption.

The less successful group, from the research, relied on cold calls, free workshops, letters and paid advertisement to try to reach a relatively small number of prospects with little more than a shout of “here I am!” These were all very low risk techniques.

It is not too hard to extrapolate these findings to the world we live in 15 years later. Now, there are just more tools to use, most of them involving new technology.

However, the basics are the same — the market rewards those in the profession who develop a unique point of view, and then are willing to develop the speaking and writing skills to get their point of view in front of audiences in high-risk, high reward ways.

Nowadays, we have more avenues available to us through internet technology.

  • A book can be self-published for US$2000.
  • A website can be launched for free.
  • A blog can be created and updated for free.
  • Digital videography and pictures can be created for US$200 or less.
  • Newsgroups can be created to address any subject matter of interest.
  • Voice recordings can be made available to the world at the flick of a few buttons.

A consultant said to me a few weeks ago that he basically “did not believe in the internet” and thought that clients had no interest in viewing web pages. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that I have not had a paper brochure for more than eight years or so, and do not plan to ever have one again, and that no-one had ever had a problem visiting my site to download over 30 articles or 40 blogs with content that spoke to them in ways that a brochure could not.

The truth is, it is not the website that makes the difference, but just as it was in 1991 — what separates the higher earners from the others is courage. In 1991 and also in 2006 it is the high-risk, long-term payoff activities that have the best return. Some examples include:

  • Speaking in front of large groups and risking rejection.
  • Writing and risking never seeing it published.
  • Putting ideas out in public, risking that others will take them and make better use of them.
  • Investing in a website and risking it being ignored.

I have taken the cowardly route in all of these at different times, and have to work hard to keep on taking risks. And then I come back to that old article, and looking at that bimodal distribution gives me faith that it all might work out one day if I continually give up any fear of looking foolish!

P.S. I recommend the book “Creating a Unique Brand in the Consulting Profession” by Allan Weiss as the best and only book of its kind that I have ever read, and even though it was written a mere five years ago, it is already stale (no mention of blogging, which was in its infancy).

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Meeting Kwame

Recently I finally met Kwame.

The Kwame in question is not himself a famous freedom fighter, but an esteemed colleague. He happens to have made the upgrade from “cyber-friend” to face-to-face friend while I was at a conference in Barbados last week.

Lest you immediately get the wrong idea about Kwame, he is not the son of that Nigerian ”prince” who needs your help to transfer $10 million, “with your kind help.” Instead, Dr. Kwame Charles is a pioneer in the field of Caribbean employee surveys, and he has the best and most comprehensive data on what the region’s employees think about their companies. See his website Quality Consultants for more information.

My point here is not to shamelessly advertise Kwame’s expertise (although companies would be crazy not to use him, and I do have his cell phone number if anyone wants to get hold of the man himself AND he is coming to Jamaica to next week’s HRMAJ conference.) Instead, it’s interesting that Kwame and I have known each other for about 3 years, but only met last week in person.

How did that happen?

Via the internet we have become colleagues by:

  • lobbying on CaribHRForum for the establishment of a regional HR conference
  • sharing leads and contacts within companies for future business
  • visiting each other’s websites
  • talking on the phone from different countries and timezones
  • writing chapters of the same book (*note to self… start writing chapter of book, as promised)
  • trying to arrange a meeting over drinks

So, last week, we finally met.

And it made me think how much more rich my life is, due to the existence of the web, internet and cyber-space. Instead of finding a stranger sitting beside me, I found a new, old friend.

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Adjusting for Caribbean Companies

I woke up this morning to read the latest edition of the Harvard Business Review. This particular issue caught my attention as it is focusing on “The Human Element.”

The articles were quite interesting, and there were a few that caught my attention as they echoed to some degree my own experience. At the same time, I could see where further work was required to make the basic idea work in a Caribbean context.

For example, one article spoke about the need to build social networks in the workplace, and how important they are to getting work done. While I can see how this is truly a revolutionary idea in the U.S., given its culture, I know that this idea would seem obvious to managers and employees in Caribbean companies. If anything, this is something that workers in the Caribbean who move to the US often complain about.

By comparison, the US workplace seems cold, dry and distant. In other words, the social networks are not valued or even acknowledged to be important.

In the Caribbean, one might argue that they are TOO important, and that not enough emphasis is placed on working hard to produce results (and there is some validity to that.)

These differences are important, and there just has not been enough research or original thinking in what it takes to make the Caribbean workplace function at a high level. My hope is that this blog and other fora can make a positive contribution in this regard.

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Getting married

Today is exactly 7 days from when I get married here in Jamaica, to a wonderful woman I met in Florida. The great thing is that I met her on match.com, which turned out to be the best system I discovered for meeting women, getting in communication with them, and then deciding to meet them based on the interaction.

It’s a great example of a shared community — one that does not have completely open, and public communication, but instead has many, many shared communications.

(If you’re someone looking to meet a significant other, then… yes, I strongly recommend the service.)

But the point of mentioning it is to highlight the power of an invented, online community. If the product of match.com is dates, long-term relationships and marriages, then it’s doing a great job at providing exactly what is promises from my point of view.

This is actually a more measurable outcome than other sites that are only about sharing ideas, some of which are useful, and the majority of which are not. Does this make match.com more relevant or important?

I’m not sure… but I do know that I’m getting married next week, and it’s due to match.com, and it would not be happening otherwise.

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Designing a new website

I’m in the throes of designing my new website, and have been doing more and more work on the web as a result.

The explosion in blogging has been phenomenal since the start of 2005, as has the growth in the number of sites that are attempting to be “wiki” in outlook, if not in actuality.

These trends have made me rethink what a website is for, and how users can interact with it — it actually can have a “personality” that is brought to life in the way that the site is designed.

On my new site, I’ve created some new ways for visitors to interact with the ideas that I create. On one extreme there is this blog, which has new ideas in a rather raw form. At another extreme, there are standard-looking white papers and research reports. At yet another extreme, there is an open invitation to take me out for drinks, or a lime, so that we can share ideas.

Why this approach? I guess that I’ve been bitten by the bug of transparency and collaboration. When combined with a new commitment to give away and receive as many new ideas as possible, I’ve tried to create as many opportunities for sharing ideas as I can.

The truth is, that this approach flies in the face of the supposed “basic assumption” of business — competition for scarce resources between firms.

So what?