The Formula: The Universal Laws of Success by Albert-Laszlo Barabasi. He is a former physics professor at the University of Notre Dame. Today Albert is the Director of Northeastern University’s Center for Complex Network Research (CCNR) associate member of the Center of Cancer Systems Biology (CCSB) at the Dana–Farber Cancer Institute and visiting professor at the Center for Network Science at Central European University.
He introduced in 1999 the concept of scale-free networks and proposed the Barabási–Albert model to explain their widespread emergence in natural, technological and social systems, from the cellular telephone to the World Wide Web or online communities.
Surprising to realize 13 years ago I was reading his book Linked: How Everything Is Connected to Everything Else and What It Means. Link certainly proved very thought provoking. It has aged well since 2008. Based upon that experience I quickly read his followup Bursts: The Hidden Pattern Behind Everything We Do in 2010.
Albert addresses how you can now quantify success. This will differ obviously across markets adn professions, but the ties linking them together are quite interesting. There is a building block of his expertise in networks.
He devotes a chapter for each of his defined universal laws of success.
Performance drives success, but when performance can’t be measured, networks drive success.
In athletics networks will not help you. If you win the US Open Tennis championship it will not matter who you know. Your success will drive instant recognition.
Yet, one focus of Chapter 1 is the Red Barron who remains the most famous World War I fighter pilot. Yet, René Fonck a French pilot actually scored more kills. However grocery stores today have Red Barron pizza. There are Red Barron 3D computer games. Even Charlie Brown, the most famous children’s cartoon holds the Red Barron as a character for Snoopy. Performance truly drives success.
This holds an opposite impact when measuring performance like art, or even academia. His lesson: where performance is easy to measure, focus on improving your performance. Where performance is hard to measure, focus on providing something of value to the relevant community.
Performance is bounded, but success is unbounded.
Chapter 4: The cost of a bottle of wine. When Albert began this law regarding how to value a bottle of wine, I knew it would be a great example for the reader. this is a market (California State Fair Wine Competition) where judges are expecting great tasting wines. So, why does a ’93 Zinfandel attain a gold medal award, then be outright dismissed in the next competition? Bob Hodgson, a winemaker from a California vineyard saw a flaw determining success:
Suddenly, the flaws in the system—inconsistencies that Hodgson had previously only suspected—became glaringly apparent. One judge gave an 80, the lowest grade, to a wine in the first sipping. A moment later, tasting it again, he assigned it a decent 90. When presented with the same wine a third time, it didn’t ring a bell, so he awarded it a 96, a rating worthy of a gold award. “They scored the identical wines as if they were different,” Hodgson recalled. He concluded that chance has a great deal to do with the awards that wines win.
p. 93
His lesson: when you achieve a plateau in performance, it does not imply that you have reached the peak of your success. And, unless you have the potential to be the “best of the best”, don’t seek success in domains where performance is easy to measure.
Previous success x fitness = future success
Chapter 6: Exploding Kittens. Think Kickstarter, who maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. “It’s the law that shows us how a subtle phenomenon, preferential attachment, governs all success, from a petition’s popularity to reading comprehension in children. When fitness and social influence work in tandem, success has no boundaries. His lesson: be patient and increase your social contacts by focusing on all those who are influencers within your network.
While team success requires diversity and balance, a single individual will receive credit for the group’s achievements
Chapter 9. Algorithms and the amazing story of Douglas Prasher. With so many lessons written across The Formula, it may be the harsh lesson of Douglas Prasher that every student should learn. This is ultimately a story of knowing not to give up when your work is not recognized. His work results in the Nobel Prize. Just not in the way anyone would plan.
Certainly this teaches that only within a small team does the proper understanding and acknowledgment of contributions exist. This is certainly not understood by outsiders. His lesson: Speak up! Focus on building your reputation for things you want to achieve.
With persistence success can come at any time.
Chapter 10. Einstein’s error. Success often results from breakthrough innovations and creative achievements, so people often speculate on the causes of such achievements. In particular, it is assumed that creativity is strongly related to a person’s age, and that it is at its peak during the early stages of their career. If you believe this, you might think that if you’re past your prime, you might as well not even try.- Keep producing good work. His lesson is very clear: Don’t second-guess yourself because of your age.
In conclusion, Albert of course forecasts success along networks. Focus on your formula to produce large works in the public (academia), build relationships that will eventually contribute to your market, community or specialization. Ultimately, allow your formula be magnetic, to draw people into your circle and become an influencer.
Brain Bar | The Universal Laws of Success
Beyond Enterprizes | Lecture at NYU The Universal Laws of Success
TED | The real relationship between your age and your chance of success
The Social Futuring Center | Science of Science: Quantifying Success