The Formula

Taking all this in and thinking about the young artists I admired, I had every reason to be concerned, especially for my friend Botond Részegh, a Transylvanian artist whom I’ve known for over a decade. His fantastic illustrations helped tie together the science and history narratives in my previous book, Bursts, and I’ve long admired his paintings,

Not because they’re more creative during this burst of activity. They succeed because they try more often. It just so happens that for most

That means that we have a better chance of successfully competing with superstars if we see them as unthreatening as they see us.

Remember the old philosophical chestnut: If a tree falls in the woods and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? According to our new understanding of success, the answer is a resounding no. Audiences won’t applaud your earth-shattering, disruptive achievement unless they can witness its impact. In an era when we can track human behavio

But if we come to competition assuming equal footing, we’re far more likely to succeed. Remember how Pierre Azoulay found that an

But the engine that makes these hubs or superstars is preferential attachment—success breeds success.

Realizing that success is a collective phenomenon throws that perception out the window. Once we defined success along external lines, a whole new set of possibilities opened up. We could measure and quantify it, using tools of scientific inquiry. And once we did that, we could unveil the laws that govern our success.

Instead, we need to bring the corner office or that prestigious gallery or that hoped-for interview closer to us.

and impact if you hope to make a difference in virtually any field. These success measures all have one thing in common: they are external, not internal; collective, not individual.