04/16/2024

Why Work has Never Been a Meritocracy

Hard work alone isn’t enough to get ahead

A big, sad part of adulthood is the slow and repeated realization that many of the beliefs that have guided your coming of age are fallacies. Your expensive college degree might not in fact guarantee your dream job, your “good” middle-class salary might not be enough to buy a home and, perhaps, the biggest wake-up call of them all: Hard work might not be enough to get ahead.

Many of us (myself included) spent our school years working hard to get all As, participating in all the activities, doing all the things we were told were key to a successful life, only to enter the working world and find that the path to success and promotions is paved with a lot of things that have nothing to do with who works the hardest. The truth is, work, and the rest of the "real world," isn't a meritocracy. The most hard-working—and even the smartest or most-talented—people aren't always the ones who end up in power.

So, what are the unspoken rules of work? If hard work alone isn't what matters, what does? And is there a way to shift what we value and make things more fair?

Please select this link to read the complete article from Fast Company.