About the Author
A journey through circuits, code, courtrooms and long open roads.
Ken Metcalf’s story wanders through classrooms, server rooms, boardrooms and long open roads. Each chapter stitched with curiosity and a quiet determination to understand how things, and people, really work. His journey began at Grey College where friendships formed on sun baked fields and echoing corridors became early pillars of character. Those bonds shaped his appetite for loyalty and laughter, lessons that no textbook could match.
He went on to earn two degrees that pulled him in different directions yet somehow pointed to the same horizon. Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Cape Town offered the elegance of circuits and the discipline of clear thinking. A BCom in Information Systems and Business Economics from UNISA expanded the story into the real world of people, decisions and consequences. Years later he returned to formal study once again, this time to the law. Not for a career pivot, but because understanding the rules of society fascinated him. The almost complete LLB sits as a testament to that lifelong desire for knowledge.
His career unfolded like a restless compass. He engineered complex systems for large corporations, built high security platforms used across continents and led teams in pressure filled industries where errors leave scorch marks. He worked in financial services, smart card technology, e commerce, mobile development and high volume transaction systems.
He headed departments, steered products, presented to governments and travelled far beyond familiar borders. He also ventured into entrepreneurship with the same mix of optimism and grit that fuels all builders. Some ventures soared, others taught valuable lessons. All added texture to the story.
Sport has been a steady companion throughout. Cycling became a quiet refuge and sometimes a battlefield, a place where the legs told the truth long before the mind did. Road races, endurance rides and the noble art of suffering up a mountain have shaped his thinking. Running events shared with his wife remain treasured hours where the world moves at a calmer pace. These pursuits taught him simplicity, discipline and the surprising clarity that arrives somewhere between breath and effort.
His love for the human condition developed early. Childhood dinner tables filled with adult conversation became front row seats to the drama of emotion, pride, choice and vulnerability. Those observations stayed with him. They later mixed with his engineering logic, his business experience and his legal study, forming a unique blend of curiosity and empathy. He has always wanted to understand why we do what we do, and how we can do it with more grace.
This book is a natural extension of that lifelong journey. It draws from the classrooms, the racing climbs, the long nights with difficult projects, the legal texts and the quiet reflections that arrive only when the world stops shouting. It is written for those who seek clarity, balance and purpose, and for those who believe that growth never ends.