[amai]

Related to the topic I can recommend the book Hansen: Great at Work (https://www.amazon.com/Great-Work-Performers-Less-Achieve/dp...). It is probably the first statistical analysis on what makes people really successful at work.

[FabHK]

I'd recommend Success and Luck: Good Fortune and the Myth of Meritocracy. (2016) by economist Robert H. Frank. He details how much of success is luck.

Pertinent xkcd, Survivorship Bias:

https://xkcd.com/1827/