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Comment by creaghpatr | Hacker News Reader

Unpopular opinion: becoming the beneficiary of favoritism is a skill that can be cultivated.

Racing is a great manifestation of this. Drivers often claim bad luck for being hit by another car. But the best drivers just seem to rarely have bad luck.

Knowing how to keep yourself out of situations where unlucky events may happen is just as important a skill in racing as driving fast.

"To finish first, you must first finish."

<3 Love that

As true as that may be it also completely ignores the point that luck might include that an individual's parents are wealthy, as well as generous enough with their wealth to lend - or give - some to said individual.

I think to your point: all the luck in the world won't fix a bad execution. It could still be commendable when a person who gets lucky is able to turn that luck into success.

Yes, and I think the points about wealth and nepotism still hold true.

...unpopular or unsavory in its implications?

I guess a lot depends of what are the grounds of favoritism. You know, sometimes just being good at doing stuff and having somebody who has first hand experience of you being good at something and then backs you for something else that they couldn't objectively know you'd be good (compared to tons of other candidates) but, you know, good old gut feeling "I know this person has it" ... well that's technically favoritism, yet it certainly feels quite different from favouring somebody for other reasons like being family or doing some kind of personal favours.

Take away the born-to connections, in orgs at the upper levels, there’s often a temperament that prevails. That may come from experience, confidence, connection, etc. could come from support (err, favoritism) or the golden contract.

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