Talent Overrated?

Key Thoughts:

What if talent is not necessary a predictor of success later in life?  This of course gives hope to the rest of us.  This book except has some interesting thing to say.

Summary:

The story opened with two smart guys fresh out of University (one from Dartmouth, the other from Harvard), voted "least likely to succeed" at Procter & Gamble.  These two guys are Steve Ballmer (CEO of Microsoft) and Jeff Immelt (CEO of GE).

"In studies of accomplished individuals, researchers have found few signs of precocious achievement before the individuals talented intensive training"

The author goes on to described Jack Welch and Bill Gates similarly as having no special gifts early on in their life.

Genomics likewise has not discover a piano-playing gene or investing gene or accounting gene.

Researchers however have converged on an answer.  It's called "deliberate practice", it's 'designed specifically to improve performance'.  A teacher is almost always necessary, to 'design [an] activity best suited to improve an individual's performance.'  Fathers who started designing their practice activities at early ages: Tiger Woods, Picasso, Mozart, Eli & Peyton Manning.

High repetition is another key feature, not just practice as we know it, but incredible number of repetition with specific goal in mind.  Deliberate practice is demanding mentality and just plain hard.

Continuous feedback is extremely important, that's why all have coaches, mentors, teachers.  Certainly not once a year appraisal!

So how to apply principles of great performance on your own? Self-regulation.

* Before the work - set goals.  The best performers et goals that are not about the outcome but rather about the process of reaching the outcome.

* During the work - self-observation. Top performers do this much more systematically than others do; it's an established part of their routine.

* After the work - self-evaluations.  The best performers judge themselves against a standard that's relevant for what they're trying to achieve.

* Post - excellent performers respond by adapting the way they act, while average performers respond by avoiding those situations in the future.

So where does the cycle starts?  The answers depend on your response to two basic questions:

1.What do you really want?

2. And what do yo really believe?

"What you really believe about the source of great performance thus becomes the foundation of all you will achieve...It shows that the price of top0-level achievement is extraordinarily high.  Maybe it's inevitable that not many people will choose to pay it.  But the evidence shows also that by understanding how a few become great, all can become better."

Read the full except on Fortune Oct 27, 2008 issue.

Reference: Why Talent is Over-Rated by Geoff Colvin, Fortune, Oct 27, 2008.

Book: Talent is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else (Portfolio Books), Geoff Colvin