“Every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving.” ― Albert Einstein
“If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants.” ― Isaac Newton
In the last month, I’ve listened to 4 audiobooks on business and leadership. I’m trying to develop a habit of going through at least 4 books per month from medicine to business and leadership. It’s too early to tell whether this habit will stick for years to come.
One of the books I listened to was Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers: The Story of Success. In it, with case after case, he dispels the myth that individual success is a result of individual effort.
I agree with him. I’ve always believed that there is no such thing as a self-made person. Life brings us opportunities like the waves of the sea come to a surfer. We cannot create the waves. We can only surf them when they arise.
We don’t choose where we are born. If we are born in a landlocked country that has no beaches, its quite likely that we might never have even heard of surfing, let alone become surfers ourselves.
Where you are born — whether as a prince in Buckingham Palace or an orphan in the slums of Nairobi — has a huge impact on how successful we become.
Natural talent and individual effort help but are not nearly as important as the social and environmental determinants of success.
The Success Iceberg
When we talk about or study successful people, we only talk about them and their habits, talents, hard work, focus, etc. This is all we see when we look at the successful person. I like to say that we see and talk about the 10% of the iceberg that is above the water and fail to see the 90% of it that lies beneath the water. Yet, it is the bulk of the iceberg beneath the water that gives the iceberg it’s force and makes it lethal.
In reality, even though the individual contribution to success is indispensable, it is very small when compared to all that it takes to become successful. When it comes to success, It takes a village to raise a child. Even more than that, it takes the world to create one successful person.
Many people succeed because nature brought them to the right place at the right time. The grew up in the right country with the right subculture. They had the right upbringing and formation–or lack thereof.
Determinants of Success that are Within vs. Outside of Individual Control
The story of Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Barack Obama, and many of the successful individuals we know in the U.S. is only possible in very few countries in the world. Not just the country, if these people hadn’t grown up in the families they grew up in, they wouldn’t have accomplished what they have.
Things like:
- Genetic endowment
- Natural abilities.
- Time of year you are born
- Nation and exact city and location you are born
- Family, you are born in
- Race
- Height
- Sex
All of the above things significantly influence our chances of success, yet they are all outside the control of the individual. Many people don’t stop to realize this, yes, your race, your height, your sex, etc influence your ability to succeed.
Obviously, there are numerous other factors outside of individual control that determine our success. My goal here is not to name all of them but to call our attention to the forgotten 90% of the determinants of success which are social, environmental, cultural, geopolitical, etc.
Without a doubt, Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein are the greatest scientific minds the world has ever known. Here is what they both said about their success:
“Every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving.” ― Albert Einstein
“If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants.” ― Isaac Newton
It is true, Isaac Newton was successful in large part because of the advancements that had occurred in mathematics and science before he was born. Scientific knowledge had grown tremendously before he came to the scene, making it easier for him to build upon what was already known. If he had been born decades earlier or later, he wouldn’t have made the kind of contributions he made. Yet, it is clear that each of these two scientists brought to bear some excellent individual contributions that took advantage of the opportunities they were afforded. But to forget the shoulders of giants that each of them stood upon and only emphasize their individual effort is a mistake.
