Success Criteria

The other day, I talked with a renowned scholar in Hong Kong about the success criteria of being a well-recognized academic in the field. We discussed for some time and worked out the following list which is prioritized according to the chronological order:

1. Diligence
2. Wisdom
3. Connection
4. Luck

It seems to me that these four criteria can apply to all professions not only the academics in the tertiary sector. For diligence, it is a key component if one aspires to be on top in their workplace or outdoes other competitors. For wisdom, this scholar and I argued whether it is necessary. But we concluded that as time goes by, through exposure to the fied and hard work, our wisdom can amass tremendously and one day we may become much more intelligent than before. For connection, one must have a close contact with certain people in the field. The intriguing relationship between burgeoning and established academics is like an expert teacher coaching an apprentice. In addition, these novice academics should be actively involved in all sorts of scholastic activities such as seminars, conferences and research. Last but not the least, luck seems to be too empty to be included in our success criteria. But having discussed its weighting, we think that it could not occupy more than 10% in the chart. I think luck is all around and they are out there. What we should do is to well equip ourselves and await luck to come. I am sure some may disagree if luck should be added to our success criteria. The answer is 'It depends...' If one is deterministic, one may agree that no. 4 criteria should be included. In my opinion, I will not tick out no. 4, but I strongly believe that no. 1 criteria is a must to those who strive for excellence on the planet!