Opportunity

Opportunity: The Key to Success

 By Mike Thompson

“The secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes.” - Benjamin Disraeli

In his book Outliers: The Story of Success, Malcolm Gladwell suggests that success has less to do with ability and more to do with opportunities. He’s not alone in this opinion; even Napoleon recognized this when he said “ability is of little account without opportunity.” Both appear to be right and evidence Gladwell uses proves it.

One anecdote he uses compares Christopher Langan, a genius with the IQ of 195 (45 higher than Einstein) who ended up working on a rural Missouri horse farm and J. Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb. According to Gladwell, both possessed similar innate natural abilities, but Oppenheimer's wealthy upbringing provided him key opportunities that allowed him to become a renowned theoretical physicist. On the other hand, Langan dropped out of college in less than two years after two pivotal setbacks. The first was his mother’s failure to sign the financial aid paperwork on time and the second was the school administration’s decision not to allow him to change his class schedule after the transmission went out in his car.

Would Langan’s outcome have been different if he was raised by a wealthier and more responsible family that provided more opportunities like Oppenheimers? Gladwell would say yes and although there are many other factors to consider I would have to say that I generally agree.

Take a few seconds and think about this. All the best intelligence, talent, ability, passion, or experience a person possesses can be irrelevant if not given an opportunity in a fertile environment at the right time. Profound isn’t it? You can have all the best genes and do all the right things, but without opportunity you will never be able to fully use either of them. No wonder 19^th century British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli said, “The secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes.” 

If we want to be a success, we must be able to identify opportunities while they are available and be ready to take advantage of them when they come. In future blogs, we will look at these two issues individually. Until then, remember what Henry Hartman said, “Success always comes when preparation meets opportunity.”