Success to the Successful
Two activities compete for limited support or resources. The more successful one becomes, the more support it gains, thereby starving the other.
THE IDEA
Structure
Two activities, groups, or individuals compete for a limited pool of support or resources. The more successful one becomes, the more support it gains, creating a reinforcing feedback loop. That same support is then denied to the other, which steadily starves. If this dynamic continues unchecked, the winners accumulate the means to keep winning and eventually take all, while the losers are progressively weakened or eliminated. Small initial differences can therefore widen over time.
Early Warning Symptom
One of the two interrelated activities, groups, or individuals is beginning to do very well while the other is struggling.
Management Principle
Look for an overarching goal that encompasses both activities and aim for balanced achievement. When the coupling is inadvertent and fuels unhealthy competition, break or weaken the resource link between them so they no longer compete for the same finite resource. Several complementary interventions can restore balance or prevent runaway success:
- Enable diversification so that those losing the current competition can shift to a different game where they have a better chance to thrive.
- Limit the advantages winners can use to exclude competitors, for example through competition rules.
- Level the playing field by adjusting the rules to reduce the advantages of the strongest players or to increase the leverage of the weakest.
- Design success rewards so that they do not automatically bias the next round of competition, decoupling today’s win from tomorrow’s resource allocation.
Business Story
A manager has two protégés and wishes to bring both along equally. One is out sick for a week. During that time, the manager gives extra attention and opportunities to the other. When the second protégé returns, the manager feels guilty and avoids the person, inadvertently giving still more opportunity to the first protégé. That protégé, sensing approval, flourishes and earns even more opportunities. The returning protégé, feeling insecure and neglected, performs less effectively and receives fewer chances, although both had equal ability initially. Eventually, the second protégé leaves the firm.
Other examples
Balancing home and work life: a worker caught working long overtime gradually finds home relationships deteriorating. It becomes increasingly painful to go home, which makes the worker even more likely to stay late at the office, further neglecting home life. Two products compete for limited financial and managerial resources within a company; one becomes an immediate marketplace hit and receives escalating investment, which starves the other product in a reinforcing spiral of growth for the winner and decline for the loser. A shy student gets off to a poor start in school—perhaps because of emotional difficulties or an undetected learning disability—gets labeled a “slow learner,” and then receives progressively less encouragement and attention than more outgoing peers, deepening the struggle.
When to use it
Assessing whether investment in an early product winner reflects its prospects or is depriving another promising product of a fair test.
In personal development, when choosing between learning new skills and refining existing ones, beware of the tendency to invest more in the skill you already excel at.
In education, teachers should be mindful of giving attention to struggling students to avoid the Matthew effect amplifying initial differences.
In organizational management, when promoting employees, ensure that initial advantages do not create an unfair competition for mentorship and opportunities.
Antitrust enforcement to prevent monopolies from using market power to stifle competition.
Reviewing how venture capital allocation rewards early success and whether other promising investments still receive adequate attention.
Academic funding agencies capping grant sizes to prevent the richest universities from dominating research.
Sports leagues implementing salary caps and revenue sharing to maintain competitive balance.
FROM THEORY TO EVERYDAY LIFE
In practice
Manager's Two Proteges
A manager has two proteges, and wishes to bring both along equally in the firm. However, one of the two ends up getting preferential treatment because the other is out sick for a week. When the second protege returns to work, the manager feels guilty, and avoids the person, thereby giving still more opportunity to the first protege. The first protege, feeling the approval, flourishes, and therefore gets more opportunity. The second protege, feeling insecure, does less effective work and receives even fewer opportunities, although the two people had equal ability in the beginning. Eventually, the second protege leaves the firm.
Balancing Home and Work
A worker gets caught working overtime so much that relationships at home deteriorate and it gets more and more “painful” to go home, which, of course, makes the worker even more likely to neglect home life in the future.
Two Products in a Firm
Two products compete for limited financial and managerial resources within a firm; one is an immediate hit in the marketplace and receives more investment, which depletes the resources available to the other, setting in motion a reinforcing spiral fueling growth of the first and starving the second.
Shy Student
A shy student gets off to a poor start in school (perhaps because of emotional problems or an undetected learning disability), becomes labeled a “slow learner,” and gets less and less encouragement and attention than his or her more outgoing peers.
Tech startup funding
A startup gains early market share and attracts more funding, which pays for additional marketing and product development. If those investments bring further success, its early advantage can widen.
Academic career progression
Early grants and publications can help a researcher gain recognition, collaborators, and further funding. When later opportunities depend heavily on that record, researchers who missed early opportunities may find it harder to compete.
A MOMENT TO REFLECT
Put it to work.
How might the Success to the Successful archetype be affecting your current project allocation or resource decisions?
What overarching goal could balance two competing activities in your life or work?
Can you identify a situation where you are inadvertently favoring one option over another due to limited resources, and how could you break that cycle?
Identify a situation in your life or work where success has led to more success. What feedback loops are at play?
How could you apply one of the 'Way Out' strategies—such as leveling the playing field—to reduce inequality in a system you care about?
What would need to change for a losing competitor to exit the game and start a new one successfully?
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION
Source texts
- Thinking in Systems A Primer
- The Fifth Discipline The Art Practice of the Learning Organization (Peter M. Senge)