Artful Navigation

It is often said that having the right connections gets you places and networking is key to success. Sure, but I think there is more to that. I am beginning to experience how connections can be a great source of knowledge and in the process help me grow and develop as a person. Not that I didn't know it before but to experience it brings home reality. There is only how much info one can acquire through books, media etc or what I would group together as "passive sources". But moving in the right circles (what is right depends on what you want to know and achieve) or what I would say "artful navigation" among insiders can and will yield so much more. Picking up the phone and speaking directly to someone who knows the deal beats having to trawl through tons of info to locate what you want to know. In addition to speed and less frustration, an interactive approach very often leads to discovery of blind spots, as opposed to a purposeful search through passive sources. Watch how many times you say to someone, "oh, I didn't know that!". Well, now you do.