The Role of Luck and Performance in the Development of Success

A Social and Network Approach in Policing

Abstract

Aim: The aim of my study is to highlight that, when examining a successful professional career path, whether in the civilian sector or, as in the present case, in the field of law enforcement, the underlying social regularities are often incorrectly disregarded, and the answers regarding the reasons for success are simply sought in chance, luck, or personal connections.

When we see an unsuccessful or less than ideally developing professional career before us, we tend to look for the reasons for the lack of success simply in the lack of individual diligence or in inappropriate lifestyle. Of course, the cause of neither situation can be described with such a simple formula.

Methodology: A certain part of the necessary components of success is indeed provided by the totality of the factors listed above, and a significant part of the failure can undoubtedly be traced back to the diligence of the individual. When the truly difficult problem of success and failure is related to a person belonging to a minority, who is at risk of a conflicted life path and is otherwise exposed to poverty or failure in the labor market, all the root causes and possible solutions to the problem can be explained by exponentially complex social laws.

Value: Knowing the situation in Hungary, it can be emphatically stated that in the case of people of Roma origin currently working in various positions in the police force, the first step on the path to success is to achieve human and professional self-confidence and its continuous increase. The path to success can be clearly and well described with the help of social and sociological laws. Avoiding professional failure can also be achieved in substance by adhering to the same principles and rules.

Conclusion: The question of success has long been a central topic in social science, economic and cultural analyses. In public discourse and meritocratic narratives, success is often presented as a result of individual performance, which assumes that outstanding performance leads to proportionally greater recognition. However, numerous empirical observations indicate that the same or similar performance can lead to different levels of success, which draws attention to the complexity of the relationship between performance and success.