At five minutes and 25 seconds, the interview of R. Craig Nielsen for the position of American Fork City Councilman stood as the second shortest among the eight candidates. The 50-year-old resident, a director of oncology services at Intermountain Healthcare and a marathon fanatic, has had little experience in local government.

“I saw the call for help in the city newsletter,” Mr. Nielsen told Councilmember Heidi Rodeback during the interview, when she asked what had prompted him to apply for the position.

As the City Council interviewed on Tuesday eight applicants for the position left vacant by Dale O. Gunther, it was treated to a range of experience that was as diverse as the city itself.

Take candidate Stephen Sowby, for example: An American Fork resident of more than four decades, he has lived in five of the city’s neighborhoods and seemed to be the mirror opposite of Mr. Nielsen. Mr. Sowby has had experience serving both on the city council and planning commission. He has also served on the Timpanogos Special Sewer District board for 10 years, becoming its chairman, and on the Governor’s Safe Drinking Water committee. Not only is he well versed in the city code, development code and state laws, he also knows most of the city employees. And if that weren’t enough, Mr. Sowby was a U.S. Army Captain and a business owner for three decades.

Yet Mr. Sowby wasn’t the winner. When the members of the City Council cast their votes, they unanimously chose Mr. Nielsen, the man who until recently had never filled out a city application.

“I think experience is very important,” Councilman Clark Taylor said. “But I look at three of [the current city council members] and I don’t know the experience we had prior to running for city council. So I know it can be done — I’m not discounting that in any way. I hope a willing mind and a back that will work and the ability to study things out are good for us as well.”

Objectively, it seems reasonable to suggest that Mr. Sowby is more impressive: He has achieved what Mr. Nielsen has mere potential to achieve, and any evidence of achievement should reduce uncertainty about a person’s talent and boost confidence about his future success.

But as most candidates played up their previous experiences on Tuesday night, Mr. Nielsen barely mentioned his achievements. He left out that he manages an annual budget of over $10 million and lead a staff of 25, though this was indicated in his application. Instead, he wisely emphasized his potential, which, according to some experts, could be more valuable than job experience.

Mr. Nielsen told the council that by educating himself on the issues and studying them carefully and making objective, rational decisions, he could keep American Fork a great place to live and raise a family. “I’ve been involved in the community through work and had a little bit a taste of that,” Mr. Nielsen said of the American Fork Canyon annual half marathon and 5K sponsored by the hospital, his employer. “So, I think I like to further that and get more involved in the community, serving how I can.”

A recent paper from researchers at Stanford and Harvard showed that potential for success is considerably more powerful than experience. In eight studies, the three researchers show that while achievement is more objectively impressive on a résumé, participants consistently displayed more favorable assessments of individuals with potential because “it is imbued with uncertainty.” For the City Council, Mr. Nielsen might achieve greatness, but also might not, much like having an exciting Powerball ticket in your pocket rather than two dollars in cash.

Emphasize what you can do, not what you have done, says the research, as your potential can become more convincing than the power of what others have achieved.

Councilman Brad Frost, who made the motion to appoint Mr. Nielsen, told the Citizen via email that along with his résumé, Mr. Nielsen “seemed possessed with common sense and a sincere desire to make American Fork City a better place to live and do business.”