Achievement: Too much? Too soon??

The fun thing about a growing organization is that you’ll see a lot of over-achievers and under-achievers. Also those who are average-achievers. The fun thing is the difference in their manners. It’s so obvious whether they have got rank/position too soon or they haven’t got it even after a long wait.

Over-achievers tend to be pretty casual, outgoing, visible and in general the ‘new kid in town’. It’s fun to see them because they are going through a maxima in their career and they actually believe that they have over-achieved because they are way smarter than others. They also tend to be high on motivation.

Under-achievers tend to be shy, under-confident. They have had a high opinion about themselves but they think they have got a raw deal in the organization. They have a shaken belief that they are smart. They believe (without 100% surety) that if they were in the position that over-achievers were, they would have done equally well. But just because they didn’t get the same kind of opportunities, they are not the ‘new kid in town’.

Sigh. It’s sad but can’t be helped. A fast growing organization can’t be too fair. It just can’t play by the rulebook. A growing organization’s priority is to grow and they have to take decisions which leave some people as under-achievers. Under-achievers are not created by the fast growing organization. A fast growing organization creates over-achievers by promoting some people. Creation of over-achievers creates under-achievers as under-achievers are practically the people with same calibre as the over-achievers but not in a very favourable position.

One key difference in the traits for over-achievers and under-achievers is that over-achievers tend to be more agressive in nature. That agression gives them more visibility which makes it easier for the management to pick them.

Yeah, I know the world is not fair but this is how it works.

In long run, everyone settles down with a balanced sense of achievements unless one keeps jumping from one growing organization to another growing organization and never tastes the stagnation or decline.