Sublime

But when it comes to assessing a candidate’s common sense, vision, creativity, or decision-making abilities, school records are of limited value. Since those traits are the most important, you must look beyond school to ascertain whether an applicant has them.

In the broadest possible sense, merit does play a key role: The work has to be good enough to enter the critical conversation, whatever that conversation happens to be. But once something is safely inside the walls of that discussion, the relative merits of its content matters much less. The final analysis is mostly just a process of reverse engine

Consider a manager selecting between two applicants, the first with a Harvard degree and the second without. Even if the manager has learned that the second applicant is more qualified for the job, in many workplaces it would be more prudent for the manager to choose the first applicant. If the manager passes up the first applicant in favor o

What’s the point of merit that exists only to protect privilege?