Pursuit of Connectedness

A few years ago, before cell phones became as smart as they are today, one could only save 100 numbers on the phone. When one needed to save a new contact onto the full phone memory, one had to delete one of the old contacts. In one conversation, I heard how people agonised over which number to replace and it invariably ended up being the number that you had not called or heard from for the longest time.  This came down to not just how networked you are, but how current your network connections were.  In these days of unlimited storage on smart phones and numerous social media platforms, one need not worry too much about replacing contacts.

However, one still needs to think about staying networked and connected.  And being networked and connected is less to do with the number of numbers (forgive the pun) one has on their phonebook, but how useful these numbers are.  For instance, it is one thing to have the number of a most sought after personality on your phone, but it is a totally different issue for that personality to have your number on their phone.  This will determine whether your calls will be recognised when you make them, whether they will be picked or whether they will be returned at some point.  I once had a telephone fight with an insurance salesman who called me, and would not tell me how he got my number, and had the knack to ask me to give him the numbers of my friends so that he could sell to them as well!

At one point, a friend was being introduced as having come from a certain village.  He surprised us by sharing how disconnected he was from his home village.  He said that probably less than five per cent of numbers on his phone book would ring in his village.  Indeed he said that even less would ring in his home district.  We concluded that he was less of the villager and more of a Kenyan.

So what does your phone say about you?  Besides being a smart phone with trending apps and latest camera, what do the contents of your phone say about you?  How geographically diverse is your network? How racially diverse is your network?  In what language do most of your phone conversations take place because the person on the other side does not share your first language?  How does this reflect on the rest of your life?  How does this reflect on your world view?

In my view, diversity is a critical ingredient for your networks.  It gives you a continuously expanding world view that in turn results in your own growth and the quality of your conversations.  So the next time you find yourself with a bit of time on your hands, as you ride in the bus or wait for the next appointment, just scroll down your phone book and just think of what that list says about you.  From that, determine what you must do about that list.

PS:  Have you at some time found a number on your phone and you cannot remember who that contact was?  What does that mean?