Jann's Blog: Got Talent?

Does talent matter?

In a global economy that is information based and interconnected, both businesses and individuals are competing against the best of the best worldwide. Often we are told that a scarce resource today is outstanding human ability. In a world of business that has shifted from one dominated by capital to one dominated by knowledge, the real competitive advantage is the rate at which organizations can learn and stay ahead of their competitors. Since knowledge is carried in the heads of people, the key is to make sure all employees are developed to their potential. Yet, companies are cutting training and development budgets.

So what does it take to be a world class performer? When thinking about world class athletes, it is easy to classify these people as gifted, talented, and born with natural abilities such as Tiger Woods, Roger Federer, or our hometown star of Shawn Johnson. When we think about Bill Gates or Warren Buffett, we attribute their success to natural intelligence. But Geoff Colvin, author of Talent is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else, discovered there are principles that can make us better at whatever we want to do in work and in life.

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However, according to Colvin, “at most companies—as well as most educational institutions and many nonprofit organizations—the fundamentals of great performance are mainly unrecognized or ignored.” “The secret” is deliberate practice, not just “practice makes perfect.” It is practicing what we are not good at doing. Deliberate practice is designed by a teacher or coach to specifically improve performance with continual feedback given. This practice is demanding mentally and not a lot of fun which is why most of us don’t do it.

This is why mentors are important—not just as people who can give guidance, but as experts in the field who can give feedback on what to work on and how we are progressing. Similar to athletes, we need to work on conditioning by maintaining our cognitive skills because just like physical strengths, they diminish if not maintained. Colvin says “every field has classic guides that will always repay study, just as linebackers will always benefit from leg presses.” It is easy to accept that Tiger Woods should have a coach, but Colvin advocates that leaders who want to improve their performance and take it to a higher level would benefit from coaches as well.

In addition to deliberate practice, another key to individual success is in learning extensive knowledge of the company’s business. But in most organizations, there is little to no direct education about the nature of the industry and how it works. Companies that understand this move people around to different jobs so that they see and know the bigger picture.

If you want to become an expert about your business, you would do the following:

Study the history of the business.

Identify the experts.

Read all that you can find.

Interview people inside your organization and outside to gain new perspectives.

Track trends.

In time, this knowledge becomes an advantage over others.

Is it talent in Applington-Parkersburg (220 students) that enabled Coach Ed Thomas to have four former players currently playing in the NFL? While I did not know Coach Thomas, everything I read about him reminded me of Coach Ron Schipper, successful long-time football coach at Central College and inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Could it be that Coach Thomas, as Coach Schipper, understood the principles of deliberate practice--having the players practice what they don’t know and giving them feedback so they know what to improve; inspiring the players with discipline so that they want to perform at the highest level?

If we know how to become world class, then why doesn’t everyone do it? Colvin believes that answer lies in the fact that not everyone has the passion to work hard to be the best. “But the evidence shows that by understanding how a few become great, anyone can become better … Great performance is not reserved for a preordained few.” It is available to all of us if we want it and we are willing to work for it.

It may not matter if we are gifted and talented if we are willing to work to be the best we can be.

Are you willing to work for it? What would it take to be the best we can be?