Image courtesy of Guian Bolisay
For years, I fought to understand the world around me at a deeper level. I remember traveling from Africa to the Middle East and then to Europe in 2008 and 2009. My mind exploded with observations, but I was continually frustrated with how to connect the dots. This was problematic for two reasons. One, it made it difficult to find the anchoring points that answered some of my "why" questions. Like seeing a spider web but not seeing where it connected to something bigger than itself to hold it up. And, two, it was difficult to remember and recall the information later on when it could have been valuable. It was like there was a hidden framework that was partially holding many of the things I was seeing. For example:
- Why did the Romani seem isolated in Budapest?
- How can Nairobi police officers be so plump in a society of such skinny people?
- What was underneath Hitler's bolstering of an Aryan race?
- What caused Cyprus to remain a divided island?
- Why do business people like Luxembourg so much?
- How could there be such a drastic difference in scenery after walking 150 feet from Jerusalem into Palestine?
There's a fabric of explanations for each of these questions, no doubt, but there are certainly some keys. A few year's later, I breached the understanding barrier while traveling with a sharp-minded consultant. His observations were so frequent, concise, and explanatory. I wondered how he did it - he seemed super-human. I finally realized his uniqueness. His background of business had shaded his lens green. And, I don't mean greedily looking for ways to make money. Rather, simply viewing and seeing this way. This mental model caused almost everything to make more sense.
In short order, let's look back at the questions above with some explanatory inlets that come from a green lens. From first to last: Romani aren't well integrated into the local economy, Nairobi police officers are known to eat more because they can (corrupt money), limited resources-based fear, tourist money and influence from Turkey and Greece, tax haven, and struggling economy of Palestine. Of course, these only small windows into much more complex reasons, but the point is that they are a window. Inlets to see.
Here's one more example from Siem Reap, Cambodia. If you've ever flown there, you may remember the unending row of hotels that greet you as you enter from the airport. In 2012, I stayed in one. It was beautiful, but nearly empty. I bet the staff outnumbered guests by 5 to 1. And, from what I remember, our hotel seemed much busier than the majority along the strip. We wondered why. Looking back, I think we made a partially correct assumption - it was an early stage of investment in anticipation of an increase in future tourists. But, in addition this, I recently made a french friend who spent a year working with a nonprofit in the former french colony. His work with the nonprofit gave him insight on the hotels which shed more light on the situation I observed. He shared that many were built and operated by Chinese statesman with one main purpose in mind: money laundering.
Is there something you're seeing that stumps you? Try switching to the green lens. You might see your answer, and if not, you're at least likely to see a signal with where to dig next. For starters, you might begin by checking out the Freakonomics podcast. Look for:
- How money is diffusing
- How emotions might be attached to a gain or lack of resources
- Economic oddities
- Who has ownership or power and what are they deciding
- Points of ambiguity, or dissonance with reality, from those in power
- Correlations between ethnicity and lifestyle
- Historical wealth patterns