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Why smart hardworking people don't become successful (2018)

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Re: Why smart hardworking people don't become successful (2018)

#21

This article glosses over the fact, known to us who have witnessed humans up close in business environments, that success is almost entirely political within an organization.

Not to mention one of the most important factors of all: luck. But survivorship bias means we assume all successful people hold a unique skill and wisdom that, if we only did the same, we'd find similar success.

Yes. 100%.

I don't think anyone likes to admit that very few things in life are actually within our control, which makes it desirable to ascribe success to hard work, or intelligence, or whatever.

I started a consultancy that failed, was part of a small team with a moderately successful product, and now am part of a small team with a much more successful product.

All of that happened while former colleagues were working on much more successful products making a lot more money than I was.

In none of those cases was the outcome related to hard work, skill, or desire.

Sometimes you have the right people together in the right place at the right time. Sometimes you don't.

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None of which is to say that luck is the _only_ factor. Part of taking advantage of the luck is doing the best work you can, and honing your skills to the best of your ability, so that if the opportunity pops up you can grab it.

But just because you haven't had the success you've wanted doesn't mean there's anything wrong with you at all.

Re: Why smart hardworking people don't become successful (2018)

#22
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One would think that being smart should be an asset when playing politics, though.

Politics require social skills, being smart is detrimental because it lets you see thru all the bullshit.

How is that detrimental in politics?

Re: Why smart hardworking people don't become successful (2018)

#23
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One would think that being smart should be an asset when playing politics, though.

Politics require social skills, being smart is detrimental because it lets you see thru all the bullshit.

If you see the bullshit but don't deal with it, that doesn't make you smart. It makes you very, very stupid.

Re: Why smart hardworking people don't become successful (2018)

#25
post #4

> But as I grew older, I realized that’s not necessarily the case. A few people I know who are intelligent and have a strong work ethic have gone on to do notable things, while many others are doing fine. Unfortunately, there are some that drift along, unsure about what to do. Not all who wander are lost. This post is terrible advice, it's like a sermon from the Church of the Silicon Bubble. Smart but not successful?…

> "Not all who wander are lost."

I'm not really sure that quote means what most think it does. The source seems to be:

All that is gold does not glitter,

Not all those who wander are lost;

The old that is strong does not wither,

Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,

A light from the shadows shall spring;

Renewed shall be blade that was broken,

The crownless again shall be king.

― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

The implication is not that wandering aimlessly is OK but kind of the opposite: that one who looks like a wanderer has a grand purpose and destined greatness within him that is merely temporarily hidden.

Anyway, going back to the main point, a different quote comes to mind: “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” ― George Bernard Shaw

Re: Why smart hardworking people don't become successful (2018)

#26
post #24

Another missed reason: Derailed by a lengthy divorce. Or, corollary to that reason, family difficulties that drain you of energy and attention. Many heroes out there whose struggles will never be know but who deal with a lot.

Even a divorce which is not lengthy and avoids acrimony can leave one feeling like the "reset" button got pushed.

Re: Why smart hardworking people don't become successful (2018)

#27
post #7

I always found the notion that we have to climb upwards and always make more money to be a bit weird. As long as I have enough to live comfortably, stash some away and not worry I'm good, I don't need more. As such, I don't really get involved in most of the things that this post is about nor do I particularly care to do so either. Work is what I do in order to sustain myself, it's not my life. The minute I walk out…

I think that the issue is that most people do not make enough money to live comfortably, stash some away, and not worry. For example, if someone wants to own a home in a major cosmopolitan city in the United States, then they must be extremely wealthy.

Re: Why smart hardworking people don't become successful (2018)

#28
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So does buying more lottery tickets. Surely, the odds at being lucky are better than in playing lottery. However, they are much less predictable than people assume. We tend to systematically overestimate our own influence and underestimate external factors.

Then why do we value talented people at all? How much of their work is luck and how much is talent? If not much is talent, then I should be able to get lucky with people who aren't talented.

There are degrees of success. Doing good work is only the most basic. Even really good work you're talented in.

Getting anything else requires opportunity. Even discovering where your talents lie takes resources.

And there's also genetic luck, not necessarily biological but also wealth and environment. Without that many talents are unknown or undeveloped. This kind of luck cannot be made.

Nobody can actually find people with undeveloped talents. You'd have to force them to try a wide variety of occupations, preferably early so that they can develop it.

The people we value are not just any talented, they're developed talents that have been noticed, and beyond that lucky geniuses.

Re: Why smart hardworking people don't become successful (2018)

#29
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Politics require social skills, being smart is detrimental because it lets you see thru all the bullshit.

If you see the bullshit but don't deal with it, that doesn't make you smart. It makes you very, very stupid.

Dealing with politics in an advantageous way takes serious time and practice. You might be well behind the curve vs professionals.

Re: Why smart hardworking people don't become successful (2018)

#30
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One would think that being smart should be an asset when playing politics, though.

Politics require social skills, being smart is detrimental because it lets you see thru all the bullshit.

If you were smart, wouldn't you know how to optimally deal with bullshit?
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