Saturday, November 9, 2019

Zachery Crocket and Thomas Frank - The “self-made” myth: Why hard work isn’t enough to reach the top



Without effort you're unlikely to get anywhere, but luck can give us the big breaks. 

A toxic myth pervades the business world: Hard work and perseverance are the only things required to achieve immense success and reach the top of your field.


It’s a mantra championed by everyone from Wall Street titans to our sitting US President (“I built what I built myself,” Trump told Charlie Rose in 1992. “I did it by working long hours, working hard and working smart!”).
This idea is staunchly rooted in the very foundations of America — a nation built on the cornerstones of rugged individualism, picking oneself up by the bootstraps, and accruing riches through sheer determination. Those who do make it big often fancy themselves to be “self-made.”
But these stories overlook a crucial ingredient of success: Luck.

Thomas Frank interview 
The Hustle 

6 comments:

Peter Pan said...

And if you have no passion, you go nowhere, as I can attest to.

Peter Pan said...

This article is rather focused on business/management types of occupations. I would say that hard work is the factor in acquiring expertise, so if you're an academic or a craftsperson, luck will have little to do with your success.

Matt Franko said...

Your talking about normal people Bob... the people here like their hero Bernie have some sort of weirdorama fetish about the Uber wealthy who are 0.1% of people...

Meanwhile the rest of us normal people have a bunch of unqualified morons in control foisted upon us who literally think we’re “out of money!” but that is no big deal compared to the existence of 0.1% of people who have a high financial net worth on paper....

Kaivey said...

Bernie for me!

Matt Franko said...

yeah you no doubt think Bill Gates has all the "money!" like Bernie too...

S400 said...

It’s about the power money gives people like Gates. They don’t deserve the power anymore than any other person with less.