Comment on the recruitment article: “What does this mean the best in school producing the best product, will only serve the best in the society and the average commoner may not be able to afford it and the committee of bests didn’t think for the lower base of the pyramid, because there was none average thinkers amongst them to voice for those springing to reach the best status whose reach ends on anything average, so to reach their best,making a better society.” (See the comment on Linkedin)
My Response: I do not think this thesis is valid. The challenge here is the thinking that the “best” is the best in everything. That is not so. A hedge fund needs the best in quant to create products for their clients, and if they can get those bests in quant, they improve their odds to thrive. But that does not mean the best in quants are the best in sports or entertainment. I expect a football sports talent academy to harvest the best in football so that they can create the best football product and win games. I also expect the music academy to look for the best in that category. When they do that, they are not serving the best in the society; they are simply striving to be the best in the society for all.
In secondary school, humbly, I was the best in math in my class. But I was the least in football; our captain Ofondu was supreme on the pitch. In all the football competitions, I was never chosen to represent my school because I had nothing to offer. In your thesis, you would have expected the school to add a no-talent football guy in that team, so that spectators with no football talent will be represented. A company built like that will fail.
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I do posit that you have a better chance if you pick the BEST in a specific category, knowing that those people may be mediocre in other areas. But assembling mediocres and bests to capture how society looks misses the point that no product can serve everything in the society. Even “average” citizens want the best as they spend their money. That they are average does not mean they want mediocre products because when you are spending your money, you are the best and the boss, and you go for the comparative best in value for your money.
My last word: improve your odds to win by assembling the best possible in your business, understanding that the “best” is not a function of grades, height, etc. You must understand what is the “best” for that production process as a hedge fund, music and football academies cannot have similar “best talent” attributes.
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Mediocrity is never a virtue, and no great institution or organization is built to satisfy mediocres. Everyone is expected to strive for excellence, to expect otherwise is both cynical and ignoble. Anywhere and anything you notice you cannot excel or thrive in, try another trade or place, until you discover your calling. But don’t ever attempt to slow down those moving ahead, just because you cannot keep up. Find your level.