The lifeguard test is one of the best memories I can use to explain Pacorips. I arrived in America as an engineering student who could not swim well enough for the work he wanted. Nine weeks later I had developed an entirely new set of abilities. Any system that identified me once, as an electrical-engineering student and nothing more, would have missed an important part of the man I was becoming.

Pacorips is our capability and contribution framework. It follows what people can actually do, what they wish to learn, where their competence has been demonstrated and where their service could help. It can recognize an experienced grower, caregiver, fabric craftsperson, coder, mechanic, language learner, athlete or engineer through practical evidence. People evolve, and the record should evolve with them.

A capability record also makes migration kinder. Imagine arriving in a new place and being seen first as a person with a set of useful abilities instead of as an unexplained foreign body competing for a scarce job. The civilization can offer orientation, training and a place in productive life while providing food and housing immediately. Capability becomes an invitation to contribute.

We learned to work this way inside our marriage. Sher never limited me to the expertise printed on my diploma. I never limited her to the roles the surrounding world might have expected of a wife. We delight in finding out what else each of us can become. Pacorips gives civilization a way to recognize that delight.