I love the idea of a meritocracy! It’s a glorious myth that makes a wonderful story. But if you look at how resources, wealth, prestige, etc. get distributed, it’s very hard to make a case for meritocracy.
It’s no surprise we believe in meritocracy. We spend our entire first 18-25 conscious years in school. School is a true meritocracy. The more you work at mastering the material, the more you earn good grades. I don’t know about you, but school was the last meritocracy I had the privilege to enjoy.
At my very first job out of college, I was told, “You do the best job of anyone here, but you’re too young to be making any more money.” Sadly, I persisted in thinking that doing a good job was the way to get what I wanted out of life. I still think that way in my gut, even though I continue to see little evidence of it.
Many very successful people talk a lot about meritocracy and how they just worked hard to succeed. That’s all fine and good, but they’re looking at only their own story. They’re not looking at the vast majority of people in the world who work very, very hard, and don’t get rewarded nearly as well. I’ve also noticed that the people who are highly successful/rewarded/prestigious have a tremendously powerful psychological vested interest in believing in and trumpeting the idea of meritocracy. Otherwise they would have to confront the idea that maybe they don’t deserve all that money/power/fame, and it simply came to them because they were born to the right parents, or were in the right place at the right time.
In capitalism, we give the bulk of the value created by an enterprise to the owners. It’s far better to own 50% of the equity in a successful company that you left 6 months after founding it than to work your ass off for 12 years making that same company a success, but working on salary. What matters as far as material reward isn’t the work/merit, but the capital and ownership structure. (That’s a true story, by the way. The company founder never worked again. The employees, while doing reasonably well, are still working at the same or other companies to earn their daily bread.)
If you want to do a good job, by all means, do it. Personally, I like to be proud of my work, and I strive to do the very best. But don’t confuse that with getting what you want. When you’re designing your life, remember that producing good work may be something you do for the psychic and self-esteem rewards. When you’re going after other rewards, say, money, be as clear-headed as you can about what will help you reach that result. Hard work and skill may not have anything to do with living the kind of life you want.
Thank you very much for this very sobering but necessary reminder. It happens to be quite timely for me, as just yesterday I was listening to a brief panel discussion that questioned whether Silicon Valley is a true meritocracy or not. With your post, I see that more people may be interested in analyzing American meritocracy than I once thought; which is good.
I just read this related article as well. It is a bit shrill and extreme, especially at the beginning, but the basic point—that the economy has largely survived and grown through the removal of free resources from the environment and subsequent charging for them—is one I hadn’t heard before. It rings true for me.
I wish the author had explored the side of the economy that is the creation of genuine goods and services, and suggested where we strike the balance between wealth-through-enclosing-nature and wealth-as-creation-of-valuable-resources.
Agreed. Fortunately, with modern access to information, the process has become more visible. Unfortunately, interventions tend to carry penalties. We had a recent dramatic example in Salt Lake City last year:
“… DeChristopher’s actions garnered national attention for an illegal government auction of public land… On July 26, 2011, Judge Benson sentenced DeChristopher to two years in prison, imposed a $10,000 fine, and ordered him into immediate custody…”
Too often, our courts provide that the sequestering collective resources and benefits (natural or commercial) provides quicker, easier, larger, and more reliable profit than continuing creation, production, and service.
I hope your author does explore “… the side of the economy that is the creation of genuine goods and services…”
More, I hope that we can all discover ways to guarantee that the benefits of our culture go to creators of every sort, rather than mere collectors.
I was just talking with a friend yesterday, who expressed an interest in applying for a higher-level position in her organization. Then she noted that there were people who would be more likely candidates because they’d been there longer. Sadly, I see that in my own organization, where the people who have been there the longest keep getting promoted. The organization has a not-so-secret goal of not promoting people who are really good at their jobs, because a competent replacement would be hard to find.
Please tell the “people who are really good at their jobs” to have a seriously secret goal of getting better jobs in better companies. ; )
If hard work is not the key to success, then what is? I don’t know what to believe anymore…
Granger: it’s hard to know what to believe. I think there are keys to success, but the keys aren’t what we’re told. (We’re told hard work and doing a good job are the keys to success. While I’ve seen this work in some cases, I can provide many, many counterexamples.) If you’re talking financial success, I think one key is looking carefully at who gets paid well for doing what and then do that. The job is more important than your relative skill in that job. Any job that pays as a percentage of value that others have created has the potential to be very well-paid, as long as you make sure that you’re paid a percentage of a big value number. Venture capitalists and high end real estate brokers all get paid this way.
Could perhaps come up with a more common-speak word?
meritocracy |ˌmeriˈtäkrəsē|
noun ( pl. meritocracies )
government or the holding of power by people selected on the basis of their ability.
• a society governed by such people or in which such people hold power.
• a ruling or influential class of educated or skilled people.
DERIVATIVES
meritocratic |ˌmeritəˈkratik|adjective
I appreciate you broaching this subject matter. It’s a large territory that is in many ways taboo. I remember as a teenager suggesting that working harder was not the best way to get a creative solution to a problem & the adult flying into a rage. Hard-working as a self descriptor seems more about being hard working: a state of identity, rather than accomplishing any specific task or goal. For me personally, working more efficiently by taking a rigorously direct line to accomplish a goal, has become very important. How I value my activities & my self-worth, are not necessily attached to work and quite independent of merit. It’s important to observe and challenge the automatic thoughts that are received, and at times drive us, instead of the other way around.
How true.
But to those, who say that people who are good at their jobs are not necessarily promoted or the people, who have been there longest get promoted. Always assuming that promotions are being made under “best person for the job”basis; more senior posts supervisors and managers are there not just because they have the greatest knowledge, but because they have the qualities (read personality as well as expertise) to bring order out of possible chaos or prevent it in the first place, not just because they are good at the job.
I also think in most organizations, better quality work will get someone promoted up to a certain point. Beyond that point, however, the key to advancement isn’t doing better quality work. The assumption (which may be wrong) is that everyone at that level can do acceptable quality. What becomes most important is leadership, team-building, political, and interpersonal skills.
This was perfect timing. I work for a large pharmaceutical company (PhD) and I have good ideas. It’s so hard to move them forward. Now I’ve moved them forward and showed I have something that appears to be 30% better than our billion dollar project. Yet I am so frustrated that I get no recognition, no great reviews, no promotions, or people to help. My boss just keeps coming to me telling me I’m going to be famous if I do just X, the next day she tells me Y, the next day Z, while I’m trying to stay focued on A, B, and C. I even tried to get laid off but I was told I’m too valuable! Stever’s article was good timing, but I still don’t know what to do about my situation.
Art: getting a large corporation to do something new is not easy. Large corporations by their nature exist to preserve the status quo, not try new things. You might want to check out my mentoring services to figure out your next step. Act fast, though. I’m still working out my short- and long-term pricing strategy and I suspect I’m a pretty good deal at the moment
Stever,
Thanks for the insight that large corporations don’t really want to change. It’s true. I’ll consider your mentoring service. I was thinking about it about 6 months ago, but recently, through some connections through Toastmasters, I found and hired a life coach. It’s helping so far, so let’s see how that goes.