Mediocrity or Meritocracy?
But both have the common denominator!
Why mediocrity is despised and Meritocracy celebrated?
Why willingness to win is not good enough?
What determines success — Is it thoughts? (Thoughts are dynamic though)
Mediocrity is despised, mediocrity is dejected, mediocrity is dashed down upon. Try searching for a quote on mediocrity and one will start hating oneself for the thought to have appeared in one’s mind.
Quotes like these will further pull one down.
“If mediocrity is your benchmark, you always sit on the bench.”
“A life of mediocrity is a waste of life.” Or one of the most aggressive ones
“Mediocrity isn’t benign. Or passive. Or neutral. It’s soul poison.”
Western Philosophy has always hated the concept of mediocrity. Meritocracy on the other hand thrives on a system where ability determines one’s rank in the social hierarchy. The need for more, the greed for more, and one’s ability that gets one more, is worshipped, revered or even canonized.
Meritocracy may be based on one’s ability to work harder to overcome or exit one arduous circumstances OR it may be one’s ability to encash one’s legacy that one has inherited OR one appropriately utilizing available resources one has and optimizing it to the fullest. (Making the most of what one has got, happens rarely).
Meritocracy puts emphasis and huge focus on the concept of ability and thus the concept of ability needs to be deciphered before one gets to understand the concept of Mediocrity and meritocracy.
To begin with what is Mediocrity and what is Meritocracy?
Mediocrity means common, someone who has no special skills or someone who has no special ability to do something well. On the other hand, the opposite of mediocrity is excellence or a system of excellence which means rewarding, recognizing or remunerating the ones who have special abilities to deliver, execute and generate extra –ordinary results and thus being rewarded extra ordinarily based on the outcome.
Both mediocrity and meritocracy have one thing in common, ability. One has no or limited ability and one has special ability.
What is then this concept of ability?
Ability simply means emotional, mental and physical strength to do things or get things done.
As the starting point is equal for everyone, hence ability is equal for everyone. One may argue that chances of survival for a poor man’s kid living in the slums or a child born in a war torn nation is low as compared to one who is born in an accomplished society with a silver spoon. Absolutely correct.
But isn’t it also correct that every tough decision, every tough condition and every tough situation makes one ever stronger and strives harder for survival.
One also can’t ignore the fact that one has limited control over the conditions, in the infancy stage but at the same time, one needs to understand that the ones who survive the toughest situation have an unequivocal hunger to succeed and thus survivor reflects the indomitable spirit.
Going in the root of the argument, if ability is the factor which changes the destiny then one needs to dig deeper to find out how one develops or can develop the ability?
What drives one to have a better ability as compared to others if the starting point is the same?
Ability develops due to inner spirit or inner desire which is formulated by experiences and environment.
And the second factor which develops ability is the Companionship, whom one is spending time with.
If one is in august company of good entrepreneurs, one surely will have a rub on effect and will start the entrepreneurial venture at some point in time in life.
A live example of the same is a story which I witnessed first-hand. Three best friends, passed out from IIT — Delhi, went on to do Masters in Management from different B-Schools based in India and abroad. They got well-paying jobs and the first one (the first friend) initiated a startup in the fashion space. In a few years, the second one initiated as well in online pharmacy. (Both became UNICORNs). All 3 remained best friends and conversed frequently. The third one with a fast track corporate career ventured into entrepreneurial venture creating an online platform providing solutions for wedding halls and wedding arrangements. After 4 years with multiple tries, the third friend couldn’t succeed and exited the venture to a Unicorn. He further rode back to corporate roll –a-coaster.
Similarly if one remains in the company of people with substance abuse or alcohol, one will surely know what’s coming ahead in one’s life.
Noble minds across the globe and in history have always propagated, emphasized and accentuated the concept of Thoughts, the importance of thoughts and vitality of thoughts.
As Buddha taught, “The mind is everything. What you think, you become,”
Or Chanakya, The greatest Indian mind, teacher, philosopher, economist, and jurist, who once said,
One’s thoughts, form one’s Words
One’s Words, form one’s Actions
One’s Actions, form One’s habits
One’s Habits, form one’s Character
One’s Character forms One’s destiny.
But how does one get thoughts?
How do these thoughts originate?
Why do people have different thoughts at different points in time?
Thoughts very simply put are a function of Feeling.
The way one feels, one perceives, one’s sensibilities receive consciousness, one’s mind originates thoughts. Feelings are a function of the environment one is exposed to.
Humans in extreme professions or in extreme sports where there is no scope of error, like the Special Forces, commandos or Olympic athletes thus expose themselves only to situations, conditions, settings which replicate their goal, their target and their Objectives. This is also known as mental conditioning, where mind and brain erases all other unessential cause and effect noises and only focuses on cause and effect of a particular event or events. Rest remains absent from one’s world view.
In a civilian life or leading a life of a householder one can’t abstain from all distractions, however the trick there is to avoid oneself being exposed to rot. One can’t choose one’s family, but surely can choose one’s friends, the news or media one watches and discussions one gets into.
For both Meritocracy and Mediocrity, the common denominator is ultimately the People, the people whom one is spending time with, the habits these people have, the character and mindset these people have. Thus one should choose wisely next time with whom one is interacting, talking or even arguing with.
Those few minutes, few hours, or few days may be shaping the future without one being even aware of.
