Elite may not be the best

Some private companies have stopped the practice of only hiring people who have stellar academic results or at least stopped the practice of immediately placing them in a talent management program that guarantees them the top jobs in the company. While many places both private and public still place great emphasis on scholars, there are companies that have found from actual experience that the so-called elite may not be the best people for the job.

In a psychological study by Professor Carol S. Dweck, it was found in 2 groups of students with similar results; one group who was given praises such as "good job, you're very smart" are much more likely to develop an fixed mindset, whereas in the other group who were given comments like "good job, you worked very hard" are likely to develop a growth mindset. The fixed mindset group (or the group that developed elitist behaviour) began to avoid challenges as they dread failure or negative statements about their basic abilities; while the growth mindset group didn't mind failure as much as they realised their performance can be improved.

In some ways, how a person thinks (or mindset) can affect his or her performance. It is like a Pygmalion effect or what is more commonly known as a self-fulfilling prophecy. The so-called elite will think they are already that "good" and demand for high positions and high remuneration but in actual fact fail to deliver or perform. Instead of finding ways to improve or innovate, they spend copious amount of time creating excuses and eventually sweeping problems under the carpet. If given the top positions in the company, they will threaten the company's ability to survive especially in today's fast paced competition and in some actual cases, even cause the companies to collapse.

From history, we already know that some of the truly talented people in this world are not the academically excellent (well-known figures like Albert Einstein, Bill Gates, etc) and many companies these days have begun to realise this fact and have begun looking out for bright sparks within their organisations who may not have the best academic results.