Many of us learn as a child that if we eat our vegetables we will grow up to be big and strong. Some of us also learned that if we practice our sport, musical instrument, singing, or anything else that we will excel at that particular endeavor. It turns out that both were true (except for eating beets… yuck)! to some extent. In his well-researched book, Talent is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else, Geoff Colvin explores how deliberate effort and hard work toward a task or profession is more important than talent. Colvin’s book is perfect for anyone trying to better themselves, and if you’ve read the book, Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell, you will find Talent is Overrated serves as a great companion.

photo credit: martinak15 via photopin cc

The main message in Talent is Overrated is that people are not born with all the natural talent and abilities that make them great. Colvin asserts that other than perhaps some physical attributes that may help an athlete gain advantages over his or her peers, anyone can achieve the status of world-class performance through deliberate practice. Three key aspects of application can be gleaned from this good-read of a book using what Colvin describes as the secrets of deliberate practice.

I. Design the Practice

Hard work is not the answer. There are a lot of hard-working people putting in countless hours into practicing a particular sport, musical instrument, or stock picking. As Colvin notes, not many become a Tiger Woods, Mozart, or Warren Buffett. He stresses that the practice or hard work needs to be specific and designed in a way that sets the path for future success. For example, Tiger Woods was not born a gifted golfer. He is even quoted in the book as stating, “Golf for me was an apparent attempt to emulate the person I looked up to more than anyone: my father.” When asked to explain Tiger’s phenomenal success, both father and son always gave the same reason: “hard work.” Yet it was specific hard work designed with a purpose and goal in mind. 

Key Point: Whether designing for you, your employees, or your children, provide a specific practice that focuses on key fundamentals of improving as opposed to simply working hard at everything.

II. Repeat the Practice

Colvin states that in his research he found that those who were successful had practiced the things that most people didn’t want to practice. “If it seems a bit depressing that the most important thing you can do to improve performance is no fun, take consolation in this fact: It must be so,” says Colvin. “If the activities that lead to greatness were easy and fun, then everyone would do them and they would not distinguish the best from the rest. The reality that deliberate practice is hard can even be seen as good news. It means that most people won’t do it. So your willingness to do it will distinguish you all the more.” Deliberate practice on the things that are not enjoyable, but are necessary for reaching world-class or even a better than normal status is a requirement you can’t get around. It has to be done and it has to be done repeatedly. 

Key Point: Though it isn’t fun, practicing the uncomfortable and non-exciting, specifically designed tasks over and over again creates success.

III. Seek Feedback of the Practice

We all need feedback on how we are doing in our jobs, with our family, and in life. We all desire positive feedback, but constructive feedback, even if it is negative, is needed in order to be successful. Our employees don’t know if they are practicing the right things in the right way if we don’t give them constructive criticism. In Talent is Overrated, Colvin points out that a good practice is to treat business news like case studies and consider what you would do in place of the CEO of the struggling company or what kind of feedback you would give to him or her. This will help to develop your feedback muscle to apply to your own workforce. 

Key Point: Consider your own workplace and how you can offer feedback on the things your team members are practicing. Ask others to provided feedback on a particular skill you’ve been working on. The bottom line in Talent is Overrated is that the majority of us are not child prodigies or have super high IQs, but we can get better at chosen tasks through repeated deliberate practice with quality feedback used as guideposts. Pick up a copy of this book and read it through. It offers insightful, motivational advice that can be applied beginning today. Pay particular attention to Chapter Seven, “Applying the Principles in Our Lives.” Great wisdom and inspiration to get you on the road to practice, practice, practice. Johnny Duncan, President of Duncan Consulting, Inc., is a business writer and consultant partnering with business leaders to provide workforce management solutions including leadership coaching, customer service training, people-to-job matches, copywriting, and conflict resolution. He can be reached at johnny@duncanconsult.com or by calling 407-739-0718.