Underdog

I love being an underdog. It is infinitely better than being the top dog. People are always ready to tear down the most successful guys: the top singer, the top actor, the top politician; even the top criminal. Being second best always gives one the energy to work harder. A company advertises itself as the second best in the business. It gives them not just energy but also credibility in the market. It makes them more productive. For a long time India has been the second most populous country after China. Look how we are catching up: by 2050 we will litter the world as the most productive nation!

Think of the world's most eminent underdogs. He was terrible in mathematics. His school teachers thought he would never make it. He struggled along and hard for employment. His parents were worried about his learning disability. He never learnt to drive a car in his life. His name: Albert Einstein. In the league of school drop-outs was Rabindranath Tagore, who got the nobel prize for literature.

The psycology of underdog facinates me. He has the itch for achievement and the right pitch that can hitch hike him to planet success. Bill Gates now a top dog himself,is often called out to recruit underdogs. During job interviews for Microsoft he asks potential employees, "Tell me about one of your significant failures in life" When quizzed about this, Gates Says "Unless the employee can describe his failures very clearly, he is unlikely to know all the elements of success."

Dr Debasish Chatterjee The author is a Professor at the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow. He can be reached at successsutras@indiatimes.com