Cutler Beckett: "No doubt you've discovered that loyalty is no longer the currency of the realm, as your father believes."

Elizabeth Swann: "Then what is?"

Cutler Beckett: "...I'm afraid currency, is the currency of the realm."

- Pirates of the Caribbean 2, Dead Man's Chest

Beckett, whatever his shortcomings, is onto something here: different realms (fields/areas etc.) value different things - sometimes at different times. Knowing what these things are (and which things are not) become invaluable if you want to succeed in that realm (e.g. academia is about publishing, citations, grants etc.; startups are about users/clients, revenue, power etc.). Determining the currency of the realm should be one of the first things you does on entering or planning to enter the realm but I don’t think many people explicitly do this or do it thoroughly. How can you go about determining the currencies of a realm of interest and ranking them when there are multiple?

Sometimes determining the currencies of a realm can be difficult. One reason for difficulty is that currencies of a realm can be implicit and unstated. Another reason is that there are often lies and hacking. Some realms lie (consciously or unconsciously) about their currencies. Academia is probably a good example: it claims that independent thought, pursuing knowledge for its intrinsic value and intellectual bravery are highly valued and in effect should impact well on amassing currencies in its realm. But its real currencies are things like publishing in top-tier venues, winning large grants and being highly cited. In many cases, being too avant garde or exploratory is likely to leave an academic well short on publications, grants or citations - the real currencies of the realm.

Hacking is also another issue: some persons are good at beating the system to get the currencies without going through the expected channels, using charisma, politics or legal tender to obtain the realm's currency.

Figuring these things out can take time, effort and skill, but ignoring them could leave you severely impoverished in the realm, and often bewildered as to why.

Despite these difficulties, I do still think that the biggest initial problem is not that currencies of a realm are generally implicit, ill defined, or open to hacking and lies; but that we generally don't expend enough energy to actively figure out what they are - really are, not the possible lies and obfuscations. It is super important to do this early on (before entering the realm if possible), because the currency doesn't just determine your possible success in the realm, it determines how much you'll enjoy being in the realm. The importance of this is proportional to the amount of time you plan to spend in the realm. The longer you plan to spend in a realm, the more important it is that you understand its currencies.

Hopefully, just being alert to the idea that realms have currencies (implicit and explicit) and they may be different from what you expect and can change over time could be a game-changer in your life.

How can you find out the currency of a realm?

- People who have been in realm and are willing to speak candidly about it could be gold. Not always possible though.

- What do people in the realm talk about in unscripted contexts and conversations?

- Why are the superstars in the realm superstars? Why are those at the bottom at the bottom?

Currencies and Leadership

The currency of the realm determines what sorts of things the realm achieves. Things which are rewarded by the realm get done and things which aren't tend not to. This is an important factor from a leadership perspective. Many organisations are already in the habit of rewarding the things they want to see in them, whether this is a real currency in their realm is what determines its success. If you are the leader, you get to set the currency - you are the Governor of the Central Bank. This is arguably the most important tool and factor in your leadership - it is also a great privilege. If your leadership has authority, what happens the most in your realm are the things which you choose to reward. Don't be fooled though, in many realms, the currency is completely out of the leaders'control.

Currencies and replicating realms

If there is a realms which produces things you want to produce, chances are the currency of the realm is the reason. This is key to understanding the mechanism by which it produces these things and replicating the realm somewhere else. Leadership setting the currency is likely a part of that mechanism. Setting the right currencies in your replicated realm could give you a great chance of successfully replicating the products of the original realm. Failing to replicate the currencies could lead to failure, regardless of how much the replica realm resembles the original in other ways.

Takeaway

Realms have currencies (implicit and explicit) and they may be different from what you expect and can change over time. Figuring out the currencies of a realm you intend to spend a significant amount of time in should be a top priority and something you should continuously evaluate as time goes on.

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