If you work at a place like the Financial Times (FT), you tend to hear a lot about bond yields and Fed rates and how the dollar is doing.
Last week, however, a sizable number of FT staff were talking about something else: an article in GQ magazine about leg-lengthening surgery to make you taller.
The macabre cosmetic procedure costs tens of thousands of pounds and involves breaking your legs, having metal rods screwed into your thigh bones and learning to walk again after months of rehabilitation.
Potential complications include nerve damage, blood clots, excruciating pain and the possibility that bones may not stick together as expected. Survivors, with luck, end up being three inches taller, or up to six inches if they have extended shins as well as thighs.
Surprisingly, the procedure would flourish. Hundreds of people around the world do it every year.
I say ‘people’, but the evidence suggests it’s mostly men.
Many come from the tech industry, according to the GQ story, which was written by a 5-foot-6 American journalist who saw a surgeon perform the operation at a clinic in Las Vegas.
Readers learn that the surgeon uses a device like a cordless drill called a “reamer” to hollow out the patient’s bone and when the gadget is removed, “a hot, bloody mush of liquefied bone, marrow and fat begins to oozing out of the hole with appalling speed and volume”.
For over a decade, study after study has shown that it pays to be taller than average, especially if you’re a man.
The idea that anyone would voluntarily undergo such an ordeal, let alone pay the £56,000 (€62,700) to £210,000 the BBC says the surgery can cost, is baffling – unless you look at the data .
For more than a decade, study after study has shown that it pays to be taller than average, especially if you’re a man. A six-foot-tall person typically earns nearly $166,000 (€171,300) more over a 30-year career than a 5-foot-5 person, US researchers found in 2004.
Australian scientists concluded a few years later that every 10 cm of additional height added 3% to the hourly wage for men and 2% for women.
Tall people also seem to be more successful in business and politics. In US elections, the tallest candidate won 58% of presidential elections between 1789 and 2008.
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CEOs in Sweden and the United States have been shown to be about 6 feet tall, taller than average in both locations at the time the research was conducted. Then there is love. Despite decades of feminism, studies show that size is still an important factor for women when it comes to choosing a partner.
The precise reason why we discriminate against the less noble is not entirely clear. Some psychologists think it may go back to early human instincts to attribute leadership qualities to tall people who are seen as better protectors. Others believe that tall people have more confidence and self-esteem themselves, which makes them more likely to succeed.
Either way, men who pay to have their legs broken a few inches longer aren’t entirely irrational. But neither are they remotely reasonable. The cost and risks of leg lengthening far outweigh the likely benefits of being slightly taller.
At some point in your career, you will almost certainly meet a small male boss.
Also, as someone of above average height, I can say with certainty that there are downsides to being tall. Flying economy class is horrible. Low back pain is a risk, especially for women.
Also, at some point in your career, you’ll almost certainly come across a small, male boss, and no matter what he thinks about being lower to the ground, you’ll find it awkward to stare at him or worse, hang your head. to hear what he mumbles. It’s not just a big problem. Lanky male friends tell me they have it too.
Finally, statistics do not tell everything. History is full of leaders who have achieved a lot, despite their average size. So if you ever come across someone who is considering getting their legs extended, tell them to sit down, sober up, and think about Winston Churchill. —Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2022
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