Do winners keep on winning?

It is an amazing coincidence that winners keep on winning, or is it? The idea that you beat the odds over and over again seem to fly in the face of statistics. So maybe its the so called "winning attitude or win at all costs" that gives the real edge. There surprisingly more cases of the sense of entitlement this begets, but none more obvious than Martin Shkreli. We have all heard about his attitude and responses to questions about his morality or ethical attitudes, and he really is coming across as a pin-up boy for entitlement. But the amazing (and incredibly sad) part is, this is not an isolated case anymore.

The feeling of invincibility seems evident in many cases of winners being winners. The entitlement and bullying that occurs on some of these cases is getting a little out of hand. If you read the follow up of Shkreli and others make light or even fun of the occurrence on social media. After being a congressional hearing regarding his extravagant episode concerning raising the cost of medicine, he starts "bad mouthing" them on social media - calling them imbeciles. Only the really brave, naive or ridiculously stupid resort to these actions with the belief their will be no repercussions! It really brings to mind the old adage of "9 foot tall and bulletproof" as a saying to denote the impulsive and reckless behaviour of teens. The number of similar cases of so called winners behaving badly is on the increase, and that is a very troubling thought. It really solves the riddle about schadenfreude with winners behaviour going to extremes or the levels shown in the media almost daily. This in itself explains the ridicule that greets their behaviour, which I'm sure is a mystery to them.

But probably even more shocking to us "mere mortals" is the lengths they will go through to keep on winning. It seems that moral and ethical considerations become a little flexible in the mind of winners, with the end more than justifying the means used in winning. An interesting article "A new study shows that winners will cheat to keep winning" brings into question the mental state of winners - I have attached here. But are they to blame, or simply a product of the social pressure to be winners? It almost appears as if winners are able to justify in their own mind ethical or moral hiccups and then simply forget or ignore them. But the sad part is they still judge others based upon accepted social norms while living outside them. A bit of an incongruous thinking perhaps - that some of us would consider a case of double standards.

I have already blogged about the social push in students to be overly self-promoting in their search for the winning recipe. We have created the monsters that we now see. But, and I mean a huge but, adults like Shkreli are old enough to have well-developed social and ethical intelligence. So his actions are more due to swagger and over-confidence rather than anything else.  The quote from Schurr and Ritov above suggest that it is all part of the strategy to either keep winning or give the illusion of winning. Their article on "Winning a competition predicts dishonest behaviour" (linked) dealt with the ethical behaviour, or lack thereof, of perceived winners. Now considering that these "winners" are leaders in business and government, I really think that their bad examples are becoming more prevalent and more selfish in nature it brings into question the role model they are providing for subsequent generations.

I'm becoming more and more concerned by the action of our so-called leaders as they push through with their own agendas and it seems their own rules. But even more worrying is their response when they are faced with an option that does not involve winning or an opinion that differs from theirs. Far too often they resort to unsavoury tactics including cheating, bullying and worse, so again I ask the question do winners keep on winning?