http://hereandnow.wbur.org/files/2010/03/0318_cranston-e1269050096142.jpg
"I'm not in danger. I AM danger!"
There is no definite set of actions that will land you in a “successful” result. There is always uncertainty. It's like Heisenberg's principle, where you can’t measure the velocity and the location of a particle at the same time (I know you science-illiterate Breaking Bad fans were wondering where “Heisenberg” came from); You can never assess the success of your current situation and how quickly you are going to your new location simultaneously. No matter how well or poorly you think you are doing, there will always be something left to chance.
Although life is uncertain, its not a total crap-shoot. If you have a college degree and get a job related to your major, the chances of you ending up in poverty are (supposedly) extremely low unless you take on drugs, gambling, or fail at business.
“Career Planning” aims to reduce uncertainty. Since poverty is the main fear of everyone, most take a strategy to prevent poverty. This includes getting a certain level of education with the expectation to get a job of high security, and reasonable salary. The “no-poverty” strategy usually aims at slightly better than average and greatly reduces your chances of extreme failure, but also extreme success. As this strategy proves to become effective at protecting against failure and resulting in better than average, more and more people adopt it till it becomes the strategy of the masses.
Fisherman always aim to maximize their catch by fishing in the most fish dense areas. If a certain area of the ocean proves to render great fish, all the fisherman will flock there. After some time that area becomes over-fished, and no longer benefits anyone. The problem occurs when so many individuals take the same strategy that it loses it’s competitive advantage. If the number of individuals of people using the mass strategy becomes too large, it will effectively decrease the average payoff. You can "over-fish" a strategy too.
When I started undergrad in 2006, there was a large demand for Finance majors on the east coast. This “hot” information caused a disproportionate number of of my peers to choose Finance as their major. Most people are “external opportunists”- they do whatever they think will offer the easiest payout based on external circumstances. Majoring in Finance was the mass strategy. No one saw the error adopting this strategy till 3-4 years later when an abundance of Finance majors started graduating an there were hardly any Finance jobs available. That area of the job market had been over-fished.
When it comes to any life strategy, career or otherwise, there is a Red Queen race between the individual and the masses. “The Red Queen” refers to the Alice in Wonderland character whose country is constantly moving so she has to run just to stay still. The faster she moves, the faster the land moves, so she never really gets anywhere. The same goes for those who copy what everyone else is doing. Once everyone and their grandma starts doing the same thing, the playing field is leveled, and all the players are back to where they started.
Although life is uncertain, its not a total crap-shoot. If you have a college degree and get a job related to your major, the chances of you ending up in poverty are (supposedly) extremely low unless you take on drugs, gambling, or fail at business.
“Career Planning” aims to reduce uncertainty. Since poverty is the main fear of everyone, most take a strategy to prevent poverty. This includes getting a certain level of education with the expectation to get a job of high security, and reasonable salary. The “no-poverty” strategy usually aims at slightly better than average and greatly reduces your chances of extreme failure, but also extreme success. As this strategy proves to become effective at protecting against failure and resulting in better than average, more and more people adopt it till it becomes the strategy of the masses.
Fisherman always aim to maximize their catch by fishing in the most fish dense areas. If a certain area of the ocean proves to render great fish, all the fisherman will flock there. After some time that area becomes over-fished, and no longer benefits anyone. The problem occurs when so many individuals take the same strategy that it loses it’s competitive advantage. If the number of individuals of people using the mass strategy becomes too large, it will effectively decrease the average payoff. You can "over-fish" a strategy too.
When I started undergrad in 2006, there was a large demand for Finance majors on the east coast. This “hot” information caused a disproportionate number of of my peers to choose Finance as their major. Most people are “external opportunists”- they do whatever they think will offer the easiest payout based on external circumstances. Majoring in Finance was the mass strategy. No one saw the error adopting this strategy till 3-4 years later when an abundance of Finance majors started graduating an there were hardly any Finance jobs available. That area of the job market had been over-fished.
When it comes to any life strategy, career or otherwise, there is a Red Queen race between the individual and the masses. “The Red Queen” refers to the Alice in Wonderland character whose country is constantly moving so she has to run just to stay still. The faster she moves, the faster the land moves, so she never really gets anywhere. The same goes for those who copy what everyone else is doing. Once everyone and their grandma starts doing the same thing, the playing field is leveled, and all the players are back to where they started.
The only way to protect yourself against the exhaustion of a red queen race, is to not run in it. If you play into what you think society or your peers will pat you on the back for, you will always be a bitch of the masses. That doesn't mean sit around and do nothing. One must realize that no matter what path you take, you will always be exposed to chance. My "starving artist" friends are doing just about as well as my "9-5" friends. You might as well do what you are most interested in because being "an opportunist" leaves you vulnerable to the whims of the market. The path that will give you the highest probability of success - whatever you define it as - is doing what you find fulfilling.
http://images.wikia.com/breakingbad/images/d/d1/Heisenberg_S4.jpg
Who are you talking to right now? Who is it you think you see? Do you know how much I make a year? I mean, even if I told you, you wouldn't believe it. Do you know what would happen if I suddenly decided to stop going into work? A business big enough that it could be listed on the NASDAQ goes belly up. Disappears! It ceases to exist without me. No, you clearly don't know who you're talking to, so let me clue you in. I am not in danger, Skyler. I AM the danger! A guy opens his door and gets shot and you think that of me? No. I am the one who knocks!"
-Walter White, Breaking Bad
