[wyager]

>most people who work in successful companies didn't get there based on merit but largely, just dumb luck

Do you have evidence for this, or are you just speculating? My experience (based on my employment history and the employment history of those close to me) is that ability to get hired correlates very closely with merit (including technical skill, amicability, etc.)

[lastsilverback]

Do you have any evidence, or you're just speculating on your own experience? Most people would, of course, never admit they got hired based on luck instead of merit.

[wyager]

My point is clearly that neither I nor the person I responded to have presented hard evidence re. ability to get jobs versus merit.

However, I'm more inclined to believe the entailments of my own experience than the informal inferences of some stranger. I encourage everyone else to do the same.

I might argue that I even have "data" in the form of a reasonably large group of professional acquaintances. "Luck" is nothing but statistical noise, and a large number of people and a large number of job applications helps damp down the noise. There is a very obvious trend in the form of more meritorious people performing better when applying for jobs.