The Myth of the Self Made Man*

In many ways my life trajectory is one that fits the story arc of the self made man.

I was a horrible student. For a variety of reasons I hated school and I think it fair to say school was none too keen on me either. I couldn’t see until I got glasses at the age of 5. I couldn't read due to dyslexia until I was 8. I was sent to a crappy school at age 11 and left school at 18 with basically zero qualifications. My first job was lifting scaffolding onto trucks for $3 an hour. It wasn’t exactly an auspicious start.

But within 3 years, I was out earning the head master of my old school. A man who told me I’d never amount to anything (Did I happen to mention it was a crap school). Before you wonder any more on this topic, yes I did fax his office a copy of my P60 (UK version of my W2), circled my gross income and wrote, "From the boy who will never amount to anything." That still makes me smile 35 years later.

Anyway, back to the story. From that point on I’ve had a good and very interesting career. I managed to move up the ladder over the years and can look back and think to myself, "Yeah, I didn’t do badly." I worked hard. I saw the world. I’ve lived in London and Brighton England, Queensland, Sydney and Melbourne Australia, San Diego, Austin TX, and Colorado. I visited over 45 US States and over 50 countries. It’s been a good run and I did it all by myself.?

Now for the honest bit...

I didn’t do it all myself. I got help, both individually and societally. So let’s relook at the story and see who helped.

I couldn’t see until I was five due to terrible eyesight. Born a century earlier or outside the West, I probably wouldn’t have gotten glasses. Without them I was effectively blind.

Although where I lived didn’t believe in Dyslexia (this was the England in the early 70’s),? my parents got me help. Without their advocacy I would have been written off.

I started my first sales job in 1986 in England. The economy was recovering strongly from a recession. The place was booming. I got my first sales job because I could type and I could lift a fax machine (they weighed 100 lbs at the time).

I could lift the fax machine because I’d loaded hundreds of tons of scaffold. I could type because my engineer Father got me into computers, something rare at the time. Five years older and my parents could never have afforded a computer. Five years younger and being able to type was no longer a rare skill. I was lucky.

My lack of formal education always made me feel insecure. As a result, I made a conscious effort to never stop learning. I missed 4 years of college, but gained an insecurity that made me a lifelong learner.?

So other than:

Being born in England in the late 1960’s

Had eyes that could be “fixed”

Dyslexia that could be treated

A healthy dose of insecurity that gave me drive

A major problem with authority figures that made me a natural contrarian

Living in a time of peace when I never had to serve in the military

Living in an era where not having a degree, or even a high school diploma, didn’t automatically exclude you from getting on the career ladder.

A Globalizing economy that gave me huge opportunity to travel and work anywhere

A English accent that Americans just happen to think makes me sound smart (don’t think I’ve not exploited this strange cultural quirk)

I’ve really done it all myself is patently false. Many of the things I got lucky with are no longer even possible.

Now I like to think I made the most of the luck I had, and as my old friend Joe Vitalone would say, "you can get in lucks way."

So next time you meet the self described, self made man*, squint a bit, and ask yourself, "Really?" And then ponder, "What makes this person say this?" Is there something in their past to explore, because you can be certain it simply isn’t true.

Whether we like it or not, we are ALL a product of both our genes, and our environment. We really are a social species. We can achieve almost nothing on our own, and anything together. We would all do well to remember that however ruggedly individual we are, we still rely on the rest of society in numerous ways.?

*Before I’m accused of being sexist I honestly can’t remember ever meeting a woman who identified as self made. I suspect many more women have a better self awareness.?

About the Author

Simon Dudley is a chump. A man who believes in paying taxes, waiting his turn, the rule of law, being a decent human being. He writes a lot about technology, society, education, business, Excession Events and science. He is also the Director of Product Strategy at Logitech.