No talent required.
That’s what it said on the side of the machine at the motorway services. It was clearly aimed at children. I think it’s wrong to suggest that they can achieve something worthwhile with “no talent”.
I told my 13 year old daughter about it. About how it annoys me to suggest that no talent is required.
And she put me right (again).
She maintains there’s no such thing as talent. Instead, there’s passion plus practise.
She gets annoyed when I tell her she has a talent for art, as if it’s somehow easy for her. It’s no easier for her than it would be for anyone else. However, she wants to be good and she puts in lots of time practising.
She’s also better than me at horse riding, playing the piano and making cosplay videos (don’t ask). In all three, it’s the same: a passion to succeed and the willingness to practise.
Our clients are passionate and have put in the hours. None of the businesses we work with are mediocre. One of the joys of what we do is spending time talking with smart people, which I love.
You’re passionate and you’ve put the time in. You’ve done Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000 hours. So have we. Different fields, but maybe a small overlap in the Venn diagram.
It makes sense to focus on the things you have a passion for and let someone else focus on the other things. Things that perhaps they have a passion for. If we’re all working on things we’re passionate about and have spent time on, wouldn’t that be more efficient?
Call it talent if you like. Ours is Linux systems and cloud technology. If we looked after those things for you, you’d be able to focus on your talents.
How fabulous would that be?