Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Meritocracy is Privilege

Meritocracy is a step forward from Hereditary Entitlement, but it is a little like salt, fat, and sugar. An easy short term solution that dominates rather than releasing flavour. There are lots of corporate zombie leeches who get paid way more than they deserve with no external markets to squeeze them out. Money makes money. Success breeds success. So it is hard to separate true Meritocracy from Hereditary Privilege. Individuals in big companies take way too much credit for their personal current impact. It takes years to institutionalise the firepower to amplify their marginal action. “Meritocracy” often boils down to spurious KPIs on a spreadsheet and someone making a biased and qualitative judgement that (perhaps subconsciously) will protect their job and authority. Reverse Darwinism. Promote people slightly less competent than you. The real flavour lies in being able to genuinely see people. That requires time, empowerment, and the space for a base opportunity to develop skills and knowledge.


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