1) Be just a tiny bit better than the competition
Everything Joseph does, he does slightly better than everyone else. Whether it be slave to the House of Potiphar, or astrologer to kings, Joseph goes above and beyond every time. And that gets him promoted: whether from servant to head servant, or from small-time soothsayer to ruler of the whole fucking country, Joseph is always climbing the ladder. What's interesting about Joseph's upward-mobility is that he's doesn't seem to work that much harder than anyone else.
Bob Rona, author of The Quick and Easy Guide to Sensational Selling, says that the differences between an average product, a good product, and a great product, are often very minimal. For a 10% increase in price, you may well get a product that's twice as good.
The same principle is true of good workmanship. Joseph doesn't do anything extraordinary in Potiphar's House - he just does what he's told to. But he does it properly, every time, and is thus appointed to run the household.
Success is not always a matter of breaking your back in difficult toil - many do that their whole lives, and never get anywhere. Sometimes it's just about finding the right place to put in that little bit extra.
2) Have a plan
When Pharoah asks the young Hebrew to interpret a pair of troubling dreams, Joseph tells the king what the dreams mean, then judiciously follows up with sound advice on what Pharoah should do about it. Pharoah is so impressed that he instantly appoints Joseph viceroy over the entire empire - "by my throne alone shall I outrank you." (Gen 41:40)
Pharoah didn't ask Joseph for actual advice - the lad was brought before the throne to serve as a dream interpreter, not a strategic advisor. But because he recognised a newly created gap in policy, and demonstrated the initiative and foresight to fill that gap with a viable plan, he was, with an air of inevitability, appointed to carry out that plan. The default position of those in power when presented with a grand scheme is often, in the immortal words of Jean-Luc Picard, "make it so". This policy makes perfect sense from the leader's point of view: the originator of a strategy is generally someone who properly understands its value and what is needed to make it work - why complicate things by trying to find someone else who fits the bill?
3) Get divine assistance
And Joseph had been brought down to Egypt. Potiphar... purchased him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there. God was with the Joseph, and he became a successful man; and he remained in the house of his Egyptian master. His master perceived that God was with him, and whatever he did God made succeed in his hand. Joseph found favour in his eyes, and he served him; and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had put into his hand. - Gen 39:1-4
Remember when I said that Joseph did his servant-work competently? Well, he did get a little help. While this does dampen his success a bit in Potiphar's house, his dream-interpreting stuff is still pretty impressive... right?
Then Pharoah sent and summoned Joseph, and they rushed him from the dungeon. He shaved and changed his clothes, and he came to Pharoah. And Pharoah said to Joseph, "I dreamt a dream, but no one can interpret it. Now I heard it said of you that you can comprehend a dream to interpret it."
Joseph answered Pharoah, saying, "That is beyond me; it is God Who will respond with Pharoah's welfare." - Gen 41:14-16
So if you can get God to do everything for you, you'll do pretty well. Problem is, of course, that we're never told exactly what it is that Joseph did to get God onside, though I suspect that nepotism played a significant role.
And, finally:
4) Once you have the power, be a dick
God's constant assistance wasn't the only thing Joseph got from papa. He also inherited his father's love of being an asshole. But instead of simply stealing from his brothers, Joseph took his dad's favourite pastime one further: he framed his brothers for stealing from him.
During a famine that affected the entire region, Joseph's brothers came to Egypt to buy food from the royal stockpile. When they finally met after so many years apart, Joseph recognised his brothers, but they didn't recognise him. Most of this week's parashah is dedicated to the ensuing story of how Joseph repeatedly framed, falsely accused, imprisoned, and generally mindfucked his bewildered brothers.
It must be noted that Joseph was far more justified in all of this than his father ever was; after all, his brothers did attempt to murder him shortly before they sold him into slavery. So I guess you can't really fault him for being a dick in this instance. But you definitely have to give him credit for doing it well. And I suspect he enjoyed it. A lot.
As my favourite misquotation of Lord Acton goes, "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. But it also rocks absolutely."
Shabbath Shalom
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