Renaissance men are made, not born.

It’s 12.15 in Bangkok. I just finished a weekly meeting with my team which started from 11.00. Aside from projects update, the discussion was about the global energy crisis, and it went well. Brainstorming is good for the minds. My body however, upper back muscles and biceps in particular, are still stiff from yesterday’s one-arm dumbbell row and today’s Muay Thai class in the morning. Working from home has its perk, I can book my trainer from 7.00-8.00, plenty of time to walk home, take a shower, get dress and ready for work by 9.00. Another perk is that others has no visibility on what I’m doing, so they don’t know that while I’m using Zoom to update on my projects, my Chrome tab is streaming Siemens webinar on “Smart Electrification for Digital Enterprise”.

This isn’t the first time I’m doing this. Yesterday, I took a leave day to rest. I ended up watching USAID Asia Edge Power Sector Learning Series: “Power Sector Planning in Vietnam Using Variable Renewable Energy Data” on Cisco WebEx, simultaneously with the YouTube Live of Schneider Electric “Innovation Talk: TeSys G Advance Motor Protection and New ComPacT NSX MCCB”.  A month ago, while waiting for a proposal review on my laptop, my iPad is streaming ASE Webinar Series #8 “Renewable Energy for Thailand Data Centers” while my iPhone is streaming IEEE PES Webinar Series 2021: “The Alternative to SF6 for High Voltage Applications | Removing Greenhouse Gases from the Grid”.

I have to admit, that while I enjoy Hollywood’s superhero movies like most people on this planet, I don’t possess any super powers of my own. With full attention to the work on my desk, I cannot simultaneously watch and listen to multiple webinars and understand the slightest piece of contents they delivered. I just know that if my name appeared LIVE on attendee rosters, there’s a good chance they’ll send me recordings that I can watch and understand later (everybody needs a recap, right?). If they don’t, it is also ok. Making a claim of watching a webinar can build a good rapport when cold calling the presenter/instructor to ask for an expert interview later, whenever there’s a project that demands it.

I still remember. Seven years ago, I told the country head when I was interviewing for the temporary assignment of this job that I believe in "lifelong learning". A month later, he reiterated that point to convince me to accept the permanent position. Back then, I thought that only a couple of training sessions per quarter seems adequate. I was wrong.

There are prices to be paid to appear like a super hero renaissance man who knows-it-all before the client. One of those is the mindset. If being a consultant is more of a lifestyle than a job, then the mindset of living in the constant state of learning is merely one aspect of doing a good job. Before the COVID-19, my idea of days-off is visiting tradeshows and seminars; learning new stuffs and exchanging business cards. Now, I would say not so different. Marketing budgets are shifting from event organizers to video conference companies, but the information stills flow to me.

But another price to be paid may be the price, literally. Watching the screen from the comfort of my home took transportation expenses out of the equation. Most webinars are free. Some webinars or training, especially good ones that have famous industry figures and also issue certificates at the end are not free. I can afford some out of my own pocket expenses on maintaining knowledge and network of experts, but not everyone can do the same. Thinking how many people can afford multiple devices to watch multiple webinars while working from home for a world-class consulting company, then the concept about inequality and pay gap are not so difficult to grasp.

There’s a norm in Thailand to support the education of your children so they have a life of comfort. I can tell that intellectuals and educated white collar workers simply living in trade-offs. We traded physical discomforts and hardships with something else. We are playing to the best of our abilities with the cards we are dealt. We are all struggling, just from a different perspective.

And while I am skimming the free e-book I got from the Nord-Lock Group to know more about Solar PV fasteners technology, I just got an e-mail notification that the EIT Technical Engineering Seminar: “Gas Turbines-What Does the Future Hold?” is starting soon. It’s the same time as the Virtual Event “ACE-IAEA Cooperation in Civilian Nuclear Energy”. But I think you already know that at this point, it doesn’t matter.