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Talent is Overrated by Geoff Colvin
Subtitled "what really separates world-class performers from everybody else", this book challenges the assumption that outstanding performance depends on an innate capacity given only to a blessed few. Colvin, Fortune Magazine's senior editor, sets out to explore the mystery of where exceptional achievement actually comes from.
Hard work and talent?
Most people suppose that high performance is the result of a combination of years of hard work and natural giftedness. That it is therefore beyond the reach of most of us. Yet research shows that experience does not actually make a significant differenct to performance, something researchers call 'the experience trap'.
So what does lead to world-class performance?
Deliberate Practice
Researchers into high performance have converged on what they call 'deliberate practice'. This is not just a case of hard work or 'practice makes perfect'. Instead, it's characterised by several specific elements that together combine to create a powerful end result. These elements can be defined as follows:
1. Designed specifically to improve performance
The essence of deliberate practice is continuously stretching just beyond current ability. This entails understanding precisely which elements of performance can be improved and then working on them in a very focused and consistent way. Very often it takes an outsider or coach to identify the key aspects of performance that will respond to continuous practice.
2. High levels of repetition
High performers repeat their deliberate practice way beyond the point that most people would regard as diligent. Colvin points to the almost obsessive degree to which many successful sports people, such as Tiger Woods, practice a specific element of their game.
3. Continuous feedback
Personal subjective assessment as to how we're performing is not necessarily accurate. Deliberate practice requires rigorous and precise feedback from a knowledgeable mentor, coach or teacher. Without this, we are unable to make the fine distinctions that are required to achieve consistent excellence.
4. Mentally demanding
Unlike mindless repetition, such as endlessly practicing the same behaviour over and over again, deliberate practice requires extreme focus and concentration. Continually isolating and working on minute aspects of performance is mentally exhausting. The very fact of focusing on what is not perfect can in itself be disheartening, yet it is this very quality of being demanding that makes deliberate practice produce exceptional results.
So how does this translate into business performance?
Colvin identifies that certain organisations are more likely to produce high performers. Typically these are places where coaching and mentoring are embedded in the culture and people are given projects that stretch their abilities. More than that, high performers in business are very specific when they are setting outcomes, attending to the detail of how they will reach their goals, being self-aware during delivery and seeking quality feedback afterwards.
What you want - really deeply want - is fundamental because deliberate practice is hard work and represents a big investment. According to Colvin, the price is paid first, the benefits come later, so you must really want and believe in the excellence you aim for.
"Nothing can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more
common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded
genius is almost a commonplace. Education will not; the world is full of
educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent."
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