The Formula - A Road map to Success in Life and Career

If you’re looking for a workable plan to succeed, a clear strategy to get ahead in your chosen field – and in life; I highly recommend that you read and practice THE FORMULA – The Science Behind Why People Succeed or Fail.

It will transform you journey - GUARANTEED.

The author, Albert-László Barabasi shared five (5) laws for success in human endeavor:

The 1st Law: Performance drives success, but when performance can’t be measured, networks drive success.

The 2nd Law: Performance is bounded, but success is unbounded.

The 3rd Law: Previous Success X fitness = success.

The 4th Law: While team success required diversity and balance, a single individual will receive credit for the group’s achievement.

The 5th Law: With persistence success can come at any time.

The 1st Law: this chapter highlights the importance of relevant relationships and structural holes as boosters to how our work is perceived, interpreted and accepted. A huge part of success is determined by how ecosystems assign value to our work. While hard work and performance (sometimes work), Albert-László advises we strategically plug into the networks and relationships that guarantee the results we desire. The story of the famed artist, Jean-Michel Basquiat (side note - his painting is the most expensive art work sold at auction by an American-$110.5 Million), who was a consummate networker and successfully exhibited alongside Andy Warhol is a useful reminder of the need to belong to networks that drive success. TD Jakes phrased it aptly in his Podcast ‘A Conversation with Chris Matthews’ when he said, ‘It’s a Hook-up World’. 

The 2nd Law: the author uses the analogy of a bell curve to describe the relationship between performance and success. Performance can be viewed as a normal distribution (bell curve) with only slight differences between the best players (think of the milliseconds time difference between Usain Bolt, Justin Gatlin and Yohan Blake in winning the Olympic 100 metres dash). However, the bell curve is not same in describing success (picture a distribution of exponential difference between discrete values). For example, the ratio of difference in earnings (success) between a CEO and an average employee is 1:287. Lazlo went on to analyze ‘how we decide when we can’t decide’. How do we assign value (know how much) to a bottle of wine? Or decide how good a chef is? Or decide what contestant will win the next season of our favorite reality TV show? At the top levels of performance, what separates the winners from the losers is often a factor of timing (randomness) and optics (distinctiveness). How can you determine the better of two (2) suma cum laude Oxford University graduates we want to hire? The principle of recency may play a greater factor in our decision making than we realize – as we often get better at interviewing towards the end and mostly remember the most recent candidates, before making hiring choices. Plus, we often the remember the candidate that has an interesting story or phenomenon. For example, the person who’s climbed the Everest and kayaked on the Grand Rapids, Michigan or cooked with Chef Salt Bae. The flip side to this randomness is that once you win, you will win again – and again. And the winners get to keep an out sized proportion of the gains and wins!

The 3rd Law: the law explores the science behind the Mattew Effect which Scriptures captures thus, '…that unto everyone that hath shall be given...’. The key takeaway is that previous success (performance) and current ability (fitness) leads to unbounded success. The result is preferential attachment to a brand or person gives ‘social proof’ and amplifies success. Talk about the ‘haves’ getting more.

Albert-László also explains what happens when top players at the upper echelons of performance compete. The effect for those in that space is often negative when they compete against the ‘best’. However, star players often push the needle on group performance. It’s worth remembering that the performance of ‘star players’ is bounded we are capable of besting them if we consistently improve our quality of play. In the era of Goliaths – we need to believe that the Davids of the world can still compete.

The 4th Law: here, we see that in team endeavors, leadership is sine qua non to successful group outcomes. In addition, healthy team dynamics and skillful communications are essential to success. Albert-László goes on to advise company leaders to invest in longer and larger lunch tables; as table top chat and water cooler conversations imbue fresh perspectives to team members on their work.

Albert-László also explores the implications of collaborations with thought or industry influencers, on the journey to success. While there may be opportunities for synergies amongst professionals from different fields, a piece of work will often be perceived as being ‘owned’ by the more popular influencer in a field. For instance, if Tiger woods were to author a book with Donald Trump, who would the title be attributed to? It depends. If the publication is on golf, then, Tiger Woods would most likely be perceived as the major contributor (author). However, if the publication is on politics or real estate, then the incumbent POTUS – Donald Trump, will be perceived as the originator of the idea (even if Tiger Woods does most of the work). This is instructive when forming partnerships and collaborations in our careers. So, on collaborations – beware!

The author ends the chapter by advising on the need for consistency, in any field, as history and public opinion often treat consistent players fondly (if you’re thinking of Serena Williams, Albert Einstein or Abraham Lincoln - you’re correct). History remembers the consistent winners!

The 5th Law: Is there an age where the probability of success begins to decline? Or creativity plummets? The short answer is no – and yes (read the book to find out more). The key determinant of whether our creativity or success declines is the effort (productivity) applied. Generally, we make more efforts and are more prolific when we are younger, hence, the likelihood of success seems higher. However, getting older need not dim our spirits or slacken our efforts. As Scriptures says ‘they will yet bear fruit in their old age’. If we keep bearing ‘fruit’, success can come at any time. At this stage, it’s even more critical how one ‘harnesses the network to help with projects’ to optimize our chances for success.

The Formula offers some interesting insights into getting children into the Ivy League and increasing our chances for getting hired (disclaimer – it’s not just wearing colored stockings and having tattoos that marks some candidates out – even though that helps). Personally, the book is a big reminder for me that once we get to the upper echelons of performance, the perception of our networks on our work could be the difference between hara-kiri and success. Remember – its a hookup world.