Trying to track down the source of the phrase ‘Effortlessly Superior’, I found a reference to this book in the Balliol College Archives and Manuscripts: Balliol College: a History, Second Edition, revised 2005. Chapter 16 of the book carries the title ‘Effortless superiority 1883-1914’ – it is likely, then, that the phrase is closely linked to a certain period in the life of Balliol College Oxford. I have also read a reference to the phrase being Balliol’s (and, indeed, Eton’s) ‘unofficial motto’. Of course, plenty of other people may have used the phrase, too, over the years – no one owns it.
One of the roughly 33 million books available to buy on Amazon is the recently-published ‘Effortless Superiority’ by Nikolaos Pasenidis. In the book overview, Nikolaos says, ‘In Effortless Superiority, we explore the concept of winning the competition without even trying.’ What could be easier, everyone? You’d clearly be a fool not to buy Nikolaos’ book, the paperback version of which is going for a trifling £13.69 on Amazon – buy the book and you are literally on to a winner ‘without even trying’. Do you think?
I have a real problem with the notion of effortless superiority – both words bother me individually but put them together and the result feels toxic. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the word ‘superior’ in two ways: 1) ‘One who is above another in rank, station, or office’ and 2) ‘One that surpasses another in quality or merit’. Definition one is factual – someone born into the aristocracy as a duke, for example, will be ‘superior’ to someone with the rank of marquess, who will in turn be ‘superior’ to someone with the rank of earl and so on. The ‘effortless’ bit is also true in that situation: if you are born into it, you have not expended any effort to get there. But, clearly, what is intended by the use of the term ‘effortlessly superior’ is the second definition – someone who is of greater merit or quality than others without making any effort to get there.
Anyone who works in education must have a problem with the notion of ‘effortlessly superior’. Many schools – including my own – promote the value of hard work, and we explicitly link progress and attainment to it. If you want to make good progress, we tell our students, you need to work hard, and keep working hard – it is hard work that will get you there! And people who make good progress over time are likely to achieve good outcomes (i.e. attain well). It is not a perfect equation – sometimes things go wrong – and students’ starting points are important, but by and large it holds up. And it’s the right message to give to all young people, some of whom come from very disadvantaged backgrounds.
There is a bald arrogance in anyone who thinks they are effortlessly superior that surely grates on us?
Aside from the justice of promoting the principle that hard work gets you there, the notion of effortless superiority is just plain wrong. At school, GCSEs and Level 2 BTECs are hard, and A levels and Level 3 BTECS are very hard; to do well in them, you have to put in a lot of effort; to get a very high grade in them, you have to work very hard. Effortlessly will just not get you there. And by and large, that’s true in life, too – ask anyone who runs their own small business and they will tell you about the work involved – they will not be talking about ‘effortlessly’. This is of course true for many jobs, including teaching. And try telling someone who has achieved a Grade 8 in violin that they are effortlessly superior to someone who has achieved a Grade 1; they will laugh at you.
There are few absolute certainties in life, but putting effort into what we do is both a good thing in itself and far more likely to yield positive results. I’m sure that the Balliol College of the 21st Century is well aware of that.
