The Meritocracy Puzzle

Meritocracy is the idea that the most capable person should get the most coveted job, the most prestigious scholarship and the most treasured grant because that person deserves it. According to some commentators Kylie Jenner is a self-made billionaire and everyone who gets to positions of power, makes it happen through hard work, hustle and strong work ethic.

It doesn’t take a genius to figure that this statement is incomplete at best. Did Kylie Jenner work hard to achieve what she did? Most likely. Was she self-made? Most likely not. There are structural issues that ensure that talent is equally distributed but opportunities are not.

So what should you do about it?

You have three options:

First, hustle.

Second, protest.

Thirds, hustle and protest at different times.

Option 1: Hustle

Life is unfair. You can accept it and try to apply your wit, wisdom, grit and charm to make the most of it. There are innumerable examples of determined, disadvantaged people who made it big.

Option 2: Protest

You can be the champion of change and highlight the inconsistencies and structural inequities around. You can rally a group or a community around. Sometimes protests lead to change but that takes time. If you are willing to put in the time, effort, energy and network relentlessly, you will be able to drive change at scale but that is not a guaranteed outcome. Nothing is. You need to be driven by the process as much as the outcome.

Option 3: Hustle + Protest

Option 3 entails doing your best to make the most of the not-so-level playing field (hustle) and complement it by standing up for what you believe in (protest).

There is a secret option 4 as well that involves getting ahead with hustle, making yourself heard through protest and also creating opportunities for the marginalized voices.

The challenge with the secret option is that it can seem sequential. Say you spend the first 35 years of your life making something out of yourself, the next 15 complementing what you have achieved by drawing attention to the ignored subjects/people and finally getting to a stage where you can do both while by curating opportunity capital for those who most need it. This approach can come across as a plan for finally doing what feels right at 60.

Who knows what you will be at 60. Perhaps you will have other priorities, health issues, family concerns or an even more raging pandemic than 2020. It is hard to predict as it seems like a lifetime away. Along the route, you may witness more intense inequities that may rattle you or strengthen your resolve to shape change in the world you see.

The life-deferment plan doesn’t quite work. You need to get into the habit of creating opportunities for yourself and for others while you negotiate with the inequitable playing field. It obviously helps to have leverage of some kind. If you are doing well for yourself, more people are likely to listen to you and see the world through your eyes. But you don’t need to wait for maximizing leverage.

How does it connect with merit?

If you think your merit is your own, think harder. You don’t need to discount your efforts. You just need to recognize the factors that weighed in to your success. It would not only make you happier but also sow seeds for your future success.

As we have discussed earlier, life is not a finite game. You just need to train yourself to keep playing for the long term. And wouldn’t it be nice to play with those you empowered? It will of course make you more successful but it will also make you more humble.

Humility and growth mindset go hand-in-hand (take a look at the image below). The more you think there is room for improvement, the more you will want to make the effort to become better - for yourself and for your community.

The challenge with believing that your success is entirely a function of your hard work is that it can make you overconfident. And overconfidence doesn’t end well.

Putting it all together

If you worked hard to get where you are, you don’t need to beat yourself up for some advantages you might have had. Instead consider redirecting that energy to making the unheard heard. Instead of obsessing over how the world should change, you should change. You can’t ignore the inequities in the world even if you achieved impossible things largely on your merit. Good for you if you did but just because you were able to doesn’t mean that everyone can. Don’t discount everyone who fails. They may be victims of luck structure, society or misdirection. Consider nudging them the way you were nudged when you needed it the most.

True merit is about empowering others and empowering yourself along the way. Individual excellence for the heck of it means nothing in an interconnected world we cohabit.

Your Network Capital Team

1. To signup for office hours to avail 1:1 coaching for your career goals, please use this link. It is free for all subscribers every day - no strings attached.

2. Subscribers have full access to Network Capital TV. Watch a masterclass every day. Start with Nobel Laureate Robert Shiller if you haven’t already

3. If you are new to Insider, please read this and write to Aditi ([email protected]) for access to Network Capital TV, Insider Specific Groups, Job Board, Book Club, Interest Groups etc.Subscribe nowGive a gift subscription