Question
What industries and professions are still ruled by "good ol' boy" networks? Industries where it can be difficult to break in as a young person, or as anyone who doesn't "know the right people".
Answer
I like this article that gives you a snaposhot of how things work these days:
http://www.theatlantic.com/magaz...
In very strict form, as in, Old Money referrals, blue-blood dealings, shady Yale clubs making George W. Bush types President , almost none in America, I would say.
From high-end consulting to financial (mis)management to airlines, I see upstarts from nowhere take over (okay, not QUITE from nowhere, they do generally tend to be well-educated middle/upper-middle class, but that's simply because you need a minimum level of education to operate in most fields today). The blue bloods are starting to look increasingly like bad jokes on the sidelines (I mean come on, the Winkelvoss twins? They could be out of a bad movie).
Almost every field of endeavor where brains and transient information advantage matter, these sorts of old-boy network inefficiencies are lethal poisons. Even they know it, so when they try to put their money to work, they make sure they hire the best talent, even if they keep 'em out of their social circles. But the value of those social circles itself is eroding rapidly.
But a sort of "new boys network" effect is emerging to take its place in many cases, based on expertise accumulating faster than it be commidified.
Silicon Valley, for example, is a place where knowing the right people matters, but NOT in the "we summered together in the Hamptons when we were kids" kinda way, but in a "if you aren't hanging out with this crowd, you'll be left far behind technically/design wise because hanging with them is the only way to keep up and learn because things are moving so fast."
I called this the "Crucible Effect" (I like making up names for such things):
http://www.ribbonfarm.com/2009/0...
At a broader level, Pull by John Seely Brown and John Hagel shows how this sort of dynamic is starting to work.
I've been in a couple such crucibles and I know from experience that I'd have had no hope of acquiring certain skills/knowledge anywhere else.
That said, there ARE still lots of old-economy areas where old-boy networks rule. Steel, diamonds and the glaringly obvious one, oil.
Anything that is hugely capital intensive, and built around access to scarce commodities that have been exploited for a long time is a candidate, because even the greatest genius can't suddenly produce more jewelry-quality diamonds using a crowd-sourced, gamified 2.0 app.
http://www.theatlantic.com/magaz...
What is more relevant to our times, though, is that the rich of today
are also different from the rich of yesterday. Our light-speed, globally
connected economy has led to the rise of a new super-elite that
consists, to a notable degree, of first- and second-generation wealth.
Its members are hardworking, highly educated, jet-setting meritocrats
who feel they are the deserving winners of a tough, worldwide economic
competition—and many of them, as a result, have an ambivalent attitude
toward those of us who didn’t succeed so spectacularly.
In very strict form, as in, Old Money referrals, blue-blood dealings, shady Yale clubs making George W. Bush types President , almost none in America, I would say.
From high-end consulting to financial (mis)management to airlines, I see upstarts from nowhere take over (okay, not QUITE from nowhere, they do generally tend to be well-educated middle/upper-middle class, but that's simply because you need a minimum level of education to operate in most fields today). The blue bloods are starting to look increasingly like bad jokes on the sidelines (I mean come on, the Winkelvoss twins? They could be out of a bad movie).
Almost every field of endeavor where brains and transient information advantage matter, these sorts of old-boy network inefficiencies are lethal poisons. Even they know it, so when they try to put their money to work, they make sure they hire the best talent, even if they keep 'em out of their social circles. But the value of those social circles itself is eroding rapidly.
But a sort of "new boys network" effect is emerging to take its place in many cases, based on expertise accumulating faster than it be commidified.
Silicon Valley, for example, is a place where knowing the right people matters, but NOT in the "we summered together in the Hamptons when we were kids" kinda way, but in a "if you aren't hanging out with this crowd, you'll be left far behind technically/design wise because hanging with them is the only way to keep up and learn because things are moving so fast."
I called this the "Crucible Effect" (I like making up names for such things):
http://www.ribbonfarm.com/2009/0...
At a broader level, Pull by John Seely Brown and John Hagel shows how this sort of dynamic is starting to work.
I've been in a couple such crucibles and I know from experience that I'd have had no hope of acquiring certain skills/knowledge anywhere else.
That said, there ARE still lots of old-economy areas where old-boy networks rule. Steel, diamonds and the glaringly obvious one, oil.
Anything that is hugely capital intensive, and built around access to scarce commodities that have been exploited for a long time is a candidate, because even the greatest genius can't suddenly produce more jewelry-quality diamonds using a crowd-sourced, gamified 2.0 app.