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Book review: The Triple Package

28 Feb 2014 by Tom Otley
Triple PackageDisclaimer first: this isn't really a business book. Nevertheless, it is the sort of book that would interest frequent travellers. As the subtitle suggests, the authors' aim is to look at what "determines" success, but unusually in this age of personal fulfilment, the discussion is less about the individual and more about the group that the individual came from. As they say in the introduction "...successful people tend to feel simultaneously inadequate and superior. Certain groups tend to make their members feel this way more than others; groups that do so are disproportionately successful." What groups are they concerned with? Well, lots of groups — Mormons, "dominant players in America's corporate boardrooms, investment firms, and business schools"; Cubans in Miami, Nigerians in American higher education; and Indian Americans. Along with Chinese, Iranian and Lebanese Americans. And then, there are the Jews who "continue to rack up Nobel prizes". It's not hard to see why the book has the promise of being controversial. Statistics which show that "in a nationwide study of young to middle-age adults, median American household net worth in 2004 was found to be $99,500; among Jewish respondents, it was $443,000" are ammunition for all sort of arguments, none of which the authors are making. Instead, they focus on the Triple Package of the title, which they see as three cultural forces that together make a powerful engine of group success. They are: A Superiority Complex; Insecurity and Impulse Control. The titles of these forces explain what they are clearly enough, although the detail is intriguing. As you'd expect, it's the individuals who have emerged from these groups that provide the best stories, however. There are lots of great examples — everyone from authors Saul Bellow and Philip Roth illustrating domineering Jewish parents, to Oscar-winning Taiwanese filmmaker Ang Lee (domineering Taiwanese parents). Many of these stories are well known, but they are pretty funny. For instance, Ang Lee's father wanted him to be a professor. When Lee won an Academy Award, his father told him there was still time. "You're only 49," he said. "Get a degree and teach in universities and be respectable." Meanwhile, Saul Bellow had to borrow money from his family during the early part of his career. When he won the National Book Award in 1954 for the Adventures of Augie March, his older brother commented, "My name won't go down in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, but I have money, and he doesn't." Interestingly, the authors are nuanced on what constitutes "success" and point out that there is a dark underside to the "advantages" that those in these groups "enjoy". Put simply, groups where you are expected to do well put pressure on you to do just that. Statistically, it seems you're more likely to succeed, but it also creates tensions. Some children feel that their parents see them mainly as being a means to obtain "bragging rights", lifting them from lower-class to middle-class and then to upper-class, according to the authors. We've all met parents like that. You are required to be impressed by them because of the achievements of their children. And the authors also point out that it doesn't mean everyone in these groups may be successful. Some may be the exact opposite, and perhaps for the same reasons — the pressure put on them. Lastly, the effect tends to wear off over three generations, so as it once applied to Puritans so it then applied to Jews and now perhaps Asian-Americans. America is a great assimilator, and so teaches people to relax and accept who they are, or at least it does now, having moved away from providing the perfect environment for the Triple Package in previous centuries. It's hard to argue with the quantative and qualitative data amassed here. In fact, much of it seems self-evident, particularly when it comes to the personal qualities of those who have succeeded. By and large, successful people are very ambitious, and don't mind you knowing the fact (they also often invite you to celebrate their success). The authors are very good in their descriptions of on this sort of ego. It is also an enjoyable read, and one which really should not be criticised for the wrong reasons. I think many will nod in agreement. The authors say that our current educational obsession with ensuring that children have high self-esteem has led to them settling for second best. How no one at school is allowed to fail (or sometimes even to compete) in case those who lose are discouraged, and how we are told to enjoy the moment rather than plan for the future — dieting is the perfect example, as is borrowing to buy what you can't afford. So a dose of common sense, rather like Amy Chua's previous book, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. Bloomsbury, £17.99 Tom Otley
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