James Clear’s book Atomic Habits has sold a whopping 10,000,000 copies. He’s a great writer, a savvy marketer and the ideas are useful. But nobody of sound mind would suggest Atomic Habits is 200 times better than a book that sells 50,000 copies, which would still be a massive success in publishing.

Elon Musk’s net worth is currently $262bn — he’s taken a lot of risks, is certainly intelligent, and works extremely hard by all accounts. But again, nobody would suggest he is 262 times harder working, smarter or better at his job than an entrepreneur whose net worth is only $1bn.

It is tempting to think that there must be something special about people who achieve extraordinary results — whether they’re artists, entrepreneurs or just people with a huge social media following. That they must have something that we don’t — a supernatural ability of some kind. But the reality could not be further from the truth. The only truly extraordinary thing about them is how lucky they are. 

An ingenious study by Professor Alessandro Pluchino and his colleagues at the University of Catania demonstrated exactly this, simulating real world diversity of talent and wealth distribution over a theoretical 40 year period.

“The maximum success never coincides with the maximum talent, and vice-versa,” they concluded. “It is evident that the most successful individuals are also the luckiest ones, and the less successful individuals are also the unluckiest ones.”

This insight serves three purposes. 

It should keep the ultra-achievers among us humble and counting their blessings. 

It should prevent everyone else from thinking that if we follow their prescriptions for success we will get similar results, because we can’t replicate their good or bad fortune, serendipity, or circumstances.

Finally, we should never compare ourselves to the best of the best and find ourselves wanting because while wealth is visible, luck — good or bad — typically is not. We just need to keep doing our best to fulfill our potential, while doing what we can to create our own luck. 

My third book — Mastering Uncertainty, co-written with Csaba Konkoly — which explores these topics and many, many more is out at the end of this month.

#entrepreneurship #innovation #growth

See this post on LinkedIn