# The Paradox of Struggling Superstars By:: [[Brian Heath]] 2025-02-11 In sports, it is common for the worst teams to pay superstars the most money to keep or attract them. Few people want to play for a losing team, and even fewer superstars are eager to join a consistently losing organization. These superstars have achieved their status through a drive that extends beyond their exceptional talent. Accomplishments often measure this drive, and one key factor that is typically absent on bad teams is any meaningful achievement. This situation offers valuable insights when considering organizations, with one major exception: in sports, there are clear distinctions between good and bad organizations, while the same cannot be said for work organizations. Unlike sports, which operate in closed systems with definitive wins and losses, work organizations exist within open systems. Many have attempted to label which organizations are successful or unsuccessful, but these assessments often lean on ideological criteria, such as internal work culture surveys, profitability, maximizing shareholder value, and the number of products sold. Moreover, many organizations come and go too quickly for anyone to assess their current state of success or failure accurately. There is no clear scoreboard to rely on. Given this ambiguity, what should superstars do? Should they be cautious of organizations that offer them higher salaries than others? Does that indicate a poorly run organization? It is difficult, if not impossible, to determine whether any organization is genuinely good or bad. Most likely, they all exist on a spectrum of misery and discontent because the absence of good or bad ultimately exposes the inherent challenges of the human condition. One approach is to adopt defensive pessimism, assuming everything is subpar and hoping for better-than-expected outcomes. Alternatively, one can take a stoic stance, focusing on what is within their control while setting aside worries. Both strategies are passive but realistic and feasible. However, for superstars, these approaches often feel unsatisfying. Their drive constantly battles the entropy of the universe and the human condition. They reject complacency, say "fuck you," and are determined to push the boulder up the hill time and again, giving everything they have. This relentless pursuit can baffle both themselves and others. It may seem perfectly irrational, embodying a sense of ironic sincerity. Yet, in this struggle lies their only sense of relief. #### Related Items [[Work]] [[Paradox]] [[Talent]] [[Performance]] [[Metamodernism]] [[Stoicism]] [[Pessimism]] [[Value]] [[Judgement]] [[Existential]]