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I'm not sure if this is deliberately obtuse, but: all else being equal, the smarter and harder-working person will win, right? The existence of some randomness doesn't mean that skill and judgement are immaterial--if you disagree with that, let's play poker some time.

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[A]ll else being equal, the smarter and harder-working person will win, right?

But in actuality, all else is never equal. Then we use the outcome of that unequal scenario to judge after the fact who was the smarter and harder-working. In poker you have a very regular, controlled game. Imagine a tournament where some players were randomly given extra aces, then try and figure out who the best players really are. That's the corporate CEO market.

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