On Talent
Do you know many people who were bad at something difficult but, with effort, got very good? For example, a slow learner who became fast, a mousy person who became charismatic, a poor thinker, writer, or speaker who became impressive?
When I was four, my mother walked me around the block of the Bronx tenement where we lived. On a vacant lot, kids were banging Chopsticks on a rickety piano that had been rained on and snowed on. I listened, then went to the piano and, trial-and-error, quickly could play it. I still play almost exclusively by ear and, even though the main practicing I did was trying to play along with the record player, I became a successful professional pianist in New York City, playing over 2,000 weddings and top-hotel gigs before I was 22. Talent. Yet, in something that would seem related — art — despite trying, I can’t draw more than stick figures. No talent.
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Not that long ago, talent seemed more central in deciding how to allocate resources. Take the piano example. If parents gave their child piano lessons and it quickly became clear that the child is talent-light, parents were more likely to — to the child’s relief — quickly replace the piano lessons with what seemed a greater natural strength, for example, a sport, dance, or art. Today however, the zeitgeist seems to have moved talent toward the back of the bus.
On seeing early signs of low talent, is it time for you to give more weight to the opportunity cost of persisting? I strive to do that, regarding my clients, friends, colleagues, and yes, myself. For example, I work well solo but am bad on teams despite having tried. Now, I avoid even requests to appear on a panel. I am bad at fixing things. So when it gets much more complicated than changing the toilet paper roll, I call someone with talent.
It seems wise to put our limited time and money where benefit is more likely, in other words, to follow the time-honored advice: Unless something is a must, like learning to read, build on strengths rather than remediate weaknesses.
I read this aloud on YouTube.
Marty Nemko is a career and personal coach, and author of 36 books including A Dose of Reality and How to Do Life. You can reach him at mnemko@gmail.com
