Management/Success/Leadership: Mostly Bullshit
http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/managementsuccessleadership_mostly_bullshit/
Scott Adams sometimes has very thought provoking things to say. Sometimes it is just bla bla bla (I am quite guilty of the same), but, as is said, the broken clock is right twice a day, so by shear verbiage he has to say something interesting from time to time (I hope I do the same). To me this is one of those days.
Anyway, I spent a lot of the late ’80s and early ’90s reading the sort of management books he talks about and I agree whole heartedly: they are total crap. The reasons for success are actually quite simple: be in the right place at the right time with an open mind. Anything else is a recipe for failure. Get those three things right and you, too, will be hugely famous for having been on the right street corner at the right time and willing to say ‘yes’ when asked of you. It is really depressing that success is so capricious, but without being born to the right parents and going to the right schools (and nodding at the right time and place, never forget that!) the likelihood of any given individual, no matter how talented, of being successful is slightly better than buying lotto tickets. If I ever do become successful you dear readers can brag about how obvious it was in my clearly insightful writing and maybe get a bit of reflected glory. Of course, as is more likely to be the case, I am just one of billions who do no more than fantasize, you can chortle up your sleeve at what an idiot I am.
I am not sure if someone else (famous) ever said it, but I like to use this to describe success:
The only difference between an idiot and a genius is how they are treated by history.
So far, I am an idiot.
I disagree with your “no matter how talented” statement. I’m not rich, but I had the kind of success I aimed for. Perhaps I would have aimed for fame or riches if my parents hadn’t been poor and I had an option for a top university. I didn’t, so I aimed for enough money to buy some good things in life.
That amounted to upper management in electronics. I had the talent to implement cost-effective but quality solutions. A good design and coming in on or under time and budget are not accidents. Nor were they the result of teachings by my parents or by sucking up.
Many (maybe most) managers are Peter-Principled, but if you move the bottom line in the right direction, SOMEONE up at the top is going to notice.
One of my experiences is that when you walk into a new place, you see tons of responsibilities lying around on the floor that people have abandoned. Pick up a few, even if they’re above your pay grade, and off you go.
I once had a horrible boss. One of my greatest pleasures in life was leap-frogging him and firing him.
From my point of view, if you are incredibly talented, but unlucky, in the wrong place, wrong time, born to the wrong parents, etc. then you are very unlikely to achieve success. Of course, ‘success’ is a very nebulous term and probably has at least as many definitions as there are people capable of uttering the term, but for me I will define it as having the freedom (intellectually, financially, etc.) to pursue the sorts of things you _want_ to do rather than _have_ to do in order to pay the bills, eat, keep a roof over your head, etc. I have known (and know) many people who are quite successful by that definition that are much less well off financially than I am and despite being very well off financially, I consider myself quite unsuccessful professionally (things have gone pretty well personally, though). I also know a lot of people who have achieve what would objectively be termed ‘success’ (certainly they have been well rewarded financially) that clearly have had nothing going for them beyond right parents, right schools. As such, I am quite comfortable in my conclusion that success is 99% luck and only 1% perspiration. Perspire all you want, you won’t increase the likelihood of luck.
I can’t tell if you’re questioning my definition of success (happy life doing what I loved for an adequate supply of money) or the veracity of my claim of having achieved it.
I will agree that my intelligence is entirely the product of luck. I did nothing to earn it but plenty to exploit it. The exploitation was based on performance, not parents or schools or ass-kissing.
Plenty of people with the right parents and right schools had a head start on me. Most fell by the wayside, some didn’t.
No, I think you have achieved success (which can only be measured internally anyway), I just think you were a bit lucky, in addition to your native intelligence and mental agility to take advantage of opportunities that came your way (i.e., nodding when at the right place and time).
I think you know from a certain forum that I nod to no one for my supper or anything else, but perhaps that’s beyond your ken.