What we miss about career success (and failure)
We rarely talk about the invisible forces that shape our careers. But behind every “brilliant” decision or “poor” outcome, there’s often more at play than we realise.
Have you ever looked at someone else's career and thought - why not me?
That quiet self-doubt... the comparison... the frustration of doing all the right things and still feeling behind.
I recently read "The Psychology of Money" by Morgan Housel, and while it’s a book about finances, one idea stood out.
And it has everything to do with what career stories we tell.
The invisible forces behind career success and failure.
Housel explains that ‘luck’ and ‘risk’ are factors that are difficult to quantify and research in financial decision-making. As a result, people dismiss luck and risk outright. And attribute success to skill. And failure to the lack of it.
But luck (falling on the good side) and risk (falling on the bad side) are inherent in every decision.
One example Housel gives:
People think Zuckerberg was a genius to turn down Yahoo’s offer to buy Facebook at $1 billion in 2006 (because Facebook went on to be successful).
However, people criticise Yahoo for turning down Microsoft’s $44 billion offer in 2008 (because it eventually sold for a fraction of that, for $4 billion, a few years later).
Zuckerberg had luck. Yahoo had risk.
Understanding the role of luck and risk in your career
Similarly to decisions in the financial realm, you might dismiss the component of luck and risk in your career trajectory, and in how you view other people’s.
Are you hard on yourself for not having the required skills if an opportunity doesn’t materialise?
Do you envy the person who seems to have hit the jackpot in their career, thinking they are smarter than you?
In both cases, you should also account for luck and risk.
When things are going well, it's not just your skills that helped you. There is the unknown factor of luck.
Equally, when you fail, it’s not just your skills that failed you. There is the unknown factor of risk.
Read that again.
Next time, when you analyse every decision that led to a perceived failure….next time you compare yourself to others:
Remember, luck and risk are part of the story.
When has luck or risk shaped your career?
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