Kevin Lester's Substack carries four publications: #PatternCounsel, #MiningIsHuman, #MiningOurHistory, and #BelowTheSurface. Start here for what's inside.
@Kevin Lester - good to see you here on Substack! I look forward to reading your regular posts here. I must admit to being a bit jealous that you have the resources (the time, and the knowledge) to produce such detailed, interesting stuff. I am still struggling to fit writing (and a lot of reading) in between my consulting work (allegedly part-time …) and managing our house build in Lusaka, Zambia.
Read and enjoyed your piece. You asked, “What do you think? How do we push for changes from the middle ground?”
This sits a little outside my direct experience. I have seen aspects of it, from a distance and as a lawyer rather than an implementer, in South Africa around Mapungubwe, in the Chilean Andes, and more recently in a project in the UK, but not enough to offer advice.
My instinct is always to start with patterns. How have similar tensions been resolved, and what had to be true for outcomes that held?
I tend to work through stories because they bring the past into focus, but the discipline is in selecting the right ones. Not the convenient narratives, but those that are honest about both success and failure. That usually tells you more about what might actually move things forward.
But, if I am honest, I enjoy telling stories so much that it is my default play.
Thanks @Ron Smit, there is a technique here, but it is not that of a formal researcher.
The short form on LinkedIn becomes easier once you get past the constraint of 3,000 characters. It forces decisions. Then, when an arc closes, the more enjoyable part is stitching it all together into something longer.
I stepped out of corporate life nine months ago and started this as a way to demonstrate range after too many years being overly identified with a previous employer. So it is both something I enjoy and, in a loose sense, a business development strategy.
As early Generation X, I am open to experimenting with new tools. I use Perplexity to accelerate the research and summarise large volumes of information quickly and point me to the material that needs a deeper dive. Grammarly helps me tighten the writing and stay within the limits. The thinking and synthesis in the middle is still mine, and that is the part I enjoy most.
And I am learning, more than I expected. After 15 years in a mining company, and 15 before that in law and consulting, I can still spend an afternoon discovering Okiep and Prieska, and the same evening on Steenkampskraal. Things I had simply never heard of. That has been one of the more surprising and gratifying parts of this.
It is not formal academic work. It is not intended to be. But it is a way of working that suits where I am now.
The only challenge: if the trickle of clients ever becomes a flood, what will I do with this?
Very interesting personal history/perspective, @Kevin Lester ! Quite a bit of overlap with mine: I qualified as a geologist, had a first career in mineral exploration, mine evaluation, etc., with two companies: General Mining Union Corp (→ Gencor) and then JCI. Ended up as Exploration Manager for a few years, as was there to switch off the lights and close the doors when JCI took it’s own head off and everybody was retrenched. Then an interregnum in Europe, being administrator for my wife’s midwifery practice, then back into the mining sector, initially back into Ghana. But then in governance stuff: Environmental, Taxation, Legislation, Cadastre design, Production monitoring, Export valuation, Value chain stuff, you name it. Clients were various international consultanties, paymasters were the WB, EU, GIZ, DFID, AusAID(→DFAT) and other letters in the donor alphabet soup. Worked mostly in African countries, but with some jobs in countries like Colombia, Mongolia, Uzbekistan. Now I’ve been in Zambia for 11 years, “semi-retired”, but still busy. And somehow keen to share stories about my experiences, and my points of view and opinions, with whoever wants to listen.
I don’t really use Grammarly (perhaps I should!) but I’m an avid user of Perplexity Pro to assist in research.
This coming Wednesday, I hope to post a story on the ownership “genealogy” of the Bushveld, tracing Union Corporation, Gencor, and JCI (among others) as progenitors of Impala and Valterra. Next week I plan to turn to my first Zambian mine. Pleased I found you here.
@Kevin Lester - good to see you here on Substack! I look forward to reading your regular posts here. I must admit to being a bit jealous that you have the resources (the time, and the knowledge) to produce such detailed, interesting stuff. I am still struggling to fit writing (and a lot of reading) in between my consulting work (allegedly part-time …) and managing our house build in Lusaka, Zambia.
You might be interested in something I wrote and published here: https://substack.com/@ronsmit/p-181047436
Read and enjoyed your piece. You asked, “What do you think? How do we push for changes from the middle ground?”
This sits a little outside my direct experience. I have seen aspects of it, from a distance and as a lawyer rather than an implementer, in South Africa around Mapungubwe, in the Chilean Andes, and more recently in a project in the UK, but not enough to offer advice.
My instinct is always to start with patterns. How have similar tensions been resolved, and what had to be true for outcomes that held?
I tend to work through stories because they bring the past into focus, but the discipline is in selecting the right ones. Not the convenient narratives, but those that are honest about both success and failure. That usually tells you more about what might actually move things forward.
But, if I am honest, I enjoy telling stories so much that it is my default play.
Thanks @Ron Smit, there is a technique here, but it is not that of a formal researcher.
The short form on LinkedIn becomes easier once you get past the constraint of 3,000 characters. It forces decisions. Then, when an arc closes, the more enjoyable part is stitching it all together into something longer.
I stepped out of corporate life nine months ago and started this as a way to demonstrate range after too many years being overly identified with a previous employer. So it is both something I enjoy and, in a loose sense, a business development strategy.
As early Generation X, I am open to experimenting with new tools. I use Perplexity to accelerate the research and summarise large volumes of information quickly and point me to the material that needs a deeper dive. Grammarly helps me tighten the writing and stay within the limits. The thinking and synthesis in the middle is still mine, and that is the part I enjoy most.
And I am learning, more than I expected. After 15 years in a mining company, and 15 before that in law and consulting, I can still spend an afternoon discovering Okiep and Prieska, and the same evening on Steenkampskraal. Things I had simply never heard of. That has been one of the more surprising and gratifying parts of this.
It is not formal academic work. It is not intended to be. But it is a way of working that suits where I am now.
The only challenge: if the trickle of clients ever becomes a flood, what will I do with this?
Very interesting personal history/perspective, @Kevin Lester ! Quite a bit of overlap with mine: I qualified as a geologist, had a first career in mineral exploration, mine evaluation, etc., with two companies: General Mining Union Corp (→ Gencor) and then JCI. Ended up as Exploration Manager for a few years, as was there to switch off the lights and close the doors when JCI took it’s own head off and everybody was retrenched. Then an interregnum in Europe, being administrator for my wife’s midwifery practice, then back into the mining sector, initially back into Ghana. But then in governance stuff: Environmental, Taxation, Legislation, Cadastre design, Production monitoring, Export valuation, Value chain stuff, you name it. Clients were various international consultanties, paymasters were the WB, EU, GIZ, DFID, AusAID(→DFAT) and other letters in the donor alphabet soup. Worked mostly in African countries, but with some jobs in countries like Colombia, Mongolia, Uzbekistan. Now I’ve been in Zambia for 11 years, “semi-retired”, but still busy. And somehow keen to share stories about my experiences, and my points of view and opinions, with whoever wants to listen.
I don’t really use Grammarly (perhaps I should!) but I’m an avid user of Perplexity Pro to assist in research.
Good to be connected here!
This coming Wednesday, I hope to post a story on the ownership “genealogy” of the Bushveld, tracing Union Corporation, Gencor, and JCI (among others) as progenitors of Impala and Valterra. Next week I plan to turn to my first Zambian mine. Pleased I found you here.