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Why Extraordinary People Create Their “Category of One”

And why they play to stay in the game.

by

Utkarsh Amitabh

by

Utkarsh Amitabh

July 13, 2020

Fernando Trabanco Fotografía/Getty Images

Summary.

While we are used to viewing competition as a standard for measuring performance, ultimate success in life is not determined by standardized tests and practices.

Just like there is no such thing as winning in a friendship or a marriage, there is no such thing as winning in work and life. It’s about creating mutually beneficial outcomes for all stakeholders.
Playing to win can lead to a decline of trust, fuel short-term thinking, and create an illusion of purpose.
Being able to reinvent yourself is a valuable tool for success. Follow your curiosity and allow yourself to learn across disciplines.

“Competition is for losers,” says Peter Thiel, investor and co-Founder of PayPal. He adds, with a twist on Leo Tolstoy’s masterpiece Anna Karenina, that every failed company is alike in that it fails to escape competition. Thiel’s analysis is as true for businesses as it is for careers.

Utkarsh Amitabh is the founder of Network Capital, one of the world’s largest career intelligence communities that serves as a partner to Government of India’s Atal Innovation Mission. Utkarsh graduated with an MBA from INSEAD Business School. He is a TED speaker, Chevening Fellow at University of Oxford and a World Economic Forum Global Shaper who represented the community at the Annual Meeting in Davos. He previously worked at Microsoft and helped build India’s first smart village which was recognized in the Prime Minister’s Book of Pioneering Innovations. His new book The Seductive Illusion of Hard Work has gone on to become a global best-seller. He also writes for Mint, Economic Times, and World Economic Forum.

Why Extraordinary People Create Their “Category of One”

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