Not long ago, I heard this piece of advice from Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba and one of China’s richest man: “Don’t be the best. Be the first!” This advice is very profound. But it is also very counterintuitive and goes against the grain of conventional wisdom that we have learnt since we were children. If you want to succeed in today’s hyper-competitive world, you have to be a contrarian. Conventional wisdom will not work anymore.
Tag Archives: meritocracy
Does the Internet reward the most gifted, capable and hardworking?
Is the Internet a great meritocracy where the finest will automatically rise up to the top? This is the idea that believes that the Internet is a potent force that brings together the collective power of the ‘market’ to sift out the wheat from the chaff and bring the best to the top where it […]