I recently read César Hidalgo’s book, “Why Information Grows.” In it, Hidalgo builds up a new interpretation of social and economic systems based on physical properties, particularly information. He splits this concept into two fundamental ideas: knowledge, the theoretical understanding of things, and know-how, the practical ability to implement ideas in the real world.
His thesis? Only through the combination of knowledge and know-how can we create meaningful change.
As my gap year draws to a close and I look forward to Duke, I’ve been thinking a lot about the experiences over this past year, and Hidalgo’s ideas keep coming to mind.
At the heart of Hidalgo’s theory is the idea that our capacities for knowledge and know-how are limited: each person has only so much information they can hold, a “personbyte,” as he calls it. The answer to the titular question of the book is that information only grows when we surpass those limits. In other words, true growth occurs within networks, where people interact, conflict, and collaborate.
My gap year has been a masterclass in this lesson.
In India, Switzerland, and South Africa, I experienced firsthand how powerful, interconnected networks are the key to amplifying our collective impact.
However, I also realize that not all networks are created equally. Truly powerful networks, networks that achieve their goals and can make meaningful change, all share a few traits: they foster mutual interdependence, provide intentional support, and are united by pointed ambition.
When I stepped off the plane in New Delhi, I didn’t know much about mountaineering. I imagined it the way you see it in Patagonia videos: one person, bravely conquering the elements through preparation, willpower, and fortitude. One against the world. Reality quickly corrected me: a couple of days in, physically roped to my teammates, it was painfully obvious that our lives depended on each other. We carried each other’s gear, shared food, and cooked communally, navigated crevasses, and set up tents all as a cohesive unit. Wherever your skills or energy ended, there was always someone there to pick up the slack.
It was interdependence at its most stark, forcing me to confront my own limitations, lack of experience, endurance, and my need to rely on others.
Far from being discouraging, the experience was transformative. I realized that it was only through collective strength that we could achieve our goals, that genuine resilience and power emerge from openly acknowledging and addressing our limitations. Our network alone wasn’t enough – it was our ability to trust each other and to lean on each other for support fully and meaningfully that drove us forward towards our goal.
In a previous blog post, I talked about how the community I had in Switzerland seemed diametrically opposed to the one I had in India. It was a community characterized by a lack of interdependence – one of us could pass our final exam while the rest of us failed, and there would be no repercussions other than sore feelings. Unlike in India, where we were physically bound together, passing our ski certification was an inherently individual achievement. Despite this independence, we chose deliberately to invest in each other’s growth. We skied together on weekends, coaching and practicing our teaching, collaborating on lesson plans, exchanging direct (sometimes overly direct) feedback, and actively encouraging one another.
Although we weren’t physically dependent, we each genuinely cared about collective success.
Through this intentional mutual support, each of us improved far beyond what we could have alone. Our network was powerful, undoubtedly so – we were each able to become great teachers and skiers in our own right – because we lifted each other up. In India, our success stemmed from a culture of mutual trust within our group, whereas in Switzerland, we were successful due to our ability to set clear expectations for each other and collectively support and encourage one another.
What I found in Cape Town was a group of people unlike any I had encountered before. Talented, passionate, driven, engaging – the network I found there synthesized the insights that had been forming in my mind and added one critical trait: pointed ambition.
Each member of our cohort combined the traits from my previous experiences – the mutual interdependence of India and the intentional group expectations of Switzerland – with a clear, shared ambition to create meaningful change in the world. From 35 countries, each person in the program had their own unique variety of beliefs, passions, talents, and skills, but what tied us all together was that each actively pursued their goals.
What allowed all of us to thrive in a vast diversity of internships, in a place none of us had experienced before, was our collective ability to channel our passion into the funnel that was our apprenticeships. Our interactions were often marked by productive friction, differing ideas and worldviews, and clashing approaches.
Yet these tensions, rather than weakening us, sharpened our collective ambition. We boarded our flights home confident that we had made people’s lives better through our work because we had tied our passions to our resources.
As this gap year comes to a close and I look ahead to Duke, I have a clearer vision of what makes networks genuinely transformative. Service Academy has always embodied the foundation of this idea, helping young people unlock their potential by tapping into the networks around them, but this gap year has shown me more —shown me the traits that make these networks transformational.
I now see that transformative change doesn’t merely come from being connected, but from the intentional cultivation of networks that support each other implicitly, that lift others up through communal expectations, and that share a pointed ambition that ties into their work.
This journey, these lessons—captured through a year of conversations, debates, reflections, and collaborations—form the foundation I carry forward to Duke and beyond.
I’m deeply grateful to all who’ve been part of this remarkable Service Academy network.
– Ryan Growney
Co-founder, Service Academy