The Success Equation

Why it’s on the list: Michael Mauboussin’s framework for untangling skill from luck across business, sports and investing — the canonical text behind the Skill vs. Luck continuum and the recurring “investor vs. gambler” question.

Where I heard about it

• A conversation — recommended in a May 2022 conversation as the best source on skill vs. luck.
• Recommended at Capital Camp 2019, as listed in A Berg’s Eye View’s “Lessons (and Books) from Camp”, saved by Kyle in April 2020 — Lessons and Books From Camp (A Berg’s Eye View).
• In Patrick O’Shaughnessy’s A Curriculum for the Modern Investor, saved by Kyle in April 2020 — A Curriculum for the Modern Investor (Patrick O’Shaughnessy).

Connections

• Michael Mauboussin — author; the HBR summary of this book’s argument is quoted in What Is An Investor.
• Skill vs. Luck — the skill↔luck continuum this book popularized.
• Knightian Uncertainty — adjacent thread: where uncertainty is high, skill has more room to create an edge.