Practice and Genes
http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/practice_and_genes/
I used to believe that plenty of perspiration with a dash of inspiration would lead to success achieving goals. Now, in my cynical old age, I believe it boils down to the three factors of real estate: luck, luck and luck. If you aren’t born to the right parents (or have the right genes), don’t go to the right schools (or get the right training) and hang out with the right friends (have the right training partners/coaches) your chance of success is about the same as winning the lotto, or, as I like to say, about the same chance of getting struck by lightning, dancing naked on a golf course, at midnight. Though I have achieved notable success on an average scale (though, to be fair, much of that was from the cratering ‘middle class‘ and not so much on me), I have achieved, statistically speaking, zero along my chosen path (to build space stations, for those of you not regular reader(s)). Maybe it was rose colored glasses when I was a youth, but it seems to me that when I was young (going on 35 years ago now, man that is a big number!) there were people who achieved their goals through perspiration and inspiration. Today those people are lotto winners (also for you not-regular-readers: ‘lotto winners’ is a generic term for me to represent big payouts at very long odds) and for the most part are individually trumpeted. Back in the ‘good old days’ these kinds of success were not lauded because they (as I recall) were common enough to be boring.
Genes go a very long way to having success in many areas, but genes alone, meaning without extensive practice AND the determination to succeed, account for very little once one is out of high school. Self successful people tend to have a variety of common traits and while the right genes (parents) are certainly among them, they also have a wide streak of determination and the willingness to put in long hours training (which, for a more sedentary position, like a PhD or MBA, might be hours and hours of research). Genes without perspiration and genes without determination are just amusing stories to tell others about ‘lost’ potential. So, yes, luck plays a huge part (get a lock on the parents, schools and friends and you have to work hard to screw it up), but not an exclusive part. Luck without the ‘genes’ to take advantage of the random opportunities that life throws at you on a daily basis is just more sad stories about ‘lost’ potential.
