At last! The proof that we runners-up are the canniest of them all
Where do you stand on success? Literally, where? If you’re high in the centre of the podium, you might be feeling pleased with yourself. But apparently you’re still not a patch on your rival, slightly below you on your right. Because coming second is superior to being first. Didn’t you know? That’s right, folks, in this crazy, new, mixed-up world, it’s the also-rans who are the real winners.
Chengwei Lui, an associate professor of strategy and behavioural science at Warwick Business School, has applied his planetary brain to numbercrunching everything from the performance of football teams to thousands of publicly listed companies in the United States.
His finding is that those who come second are usually more talented than the “flukes” who beat them. In short, winning is largely a matter of luck rather than judgment, or even out-and-out superiority.
On a personal note, that’s marvellously comforting, because I was runner-up for the victrix ludorum at school. I felt a bit deflated at not winning it, to be honest. But finally, after three decades of bitterness, I can get
over the humiliation and refocus my efforts on the Tokyo 2020 shot put.
Lui concludes that successful individuals are very often less gifted and reliable than those just behind them.
Is that such a revelation? Most of us have long since recognised the phenomenon of the power behind the throne, the leaders whose key attribute is being astute enough to surround themselves with talented generals.
Yes, they happily claim whatever glory is going, but they are also first in the firing line when times are tough.
Which is possibly the ultimate proof that runners-up are a canny lot. They could rise to the very top, but choose not to. Their real gift is in reining in their own egos to play a longer game and let the winners take it all. Including the flak.