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If your answer to these questions is a shaky and expectant, "I
wish I had some talent," you're more than likely cheating
yourself. Yes, even if you can't sing, dance, draw, write, understand
quantum physics, or talk to an audience you still have a chance
to be brilliant. When asked to describe their strongest natural
talents, I've heard a lot of super intelligent people
say, "I've been dealt a loosing hand."
Mainstream wisdom fools us into believing that the only the people
with "real" talent are actors, film directors, writers,
poets, artists, dancers, athletes, and supermodels. The good
news is that everyone has inborn talent, and many of us have
exceptional natural abilities. The objective of this
column is to help you understand your inborn "talent"
and inspire you to tap your deep well of natural potential.
Talent is not a "learned" skill. This is a major
distinction: you are born with talents, skills are what you learn
along the way through life. Your talents come when the stork
drops you off on the doorstep; it's your genetic endowment. They are
your gifts; no learning required! So what about skills? Resumes
are a laundry list of skills. Skills are like clothes, you can
take them off like a smelly old sock, clean them up, or get new
ones as needed. Conversely, inborn talents are with you for life;
they don't change. My chocolate Lab Sydney was born with extraordinary
natural talent at smelling her way around the neighborhood, she
doesn't have to have a master's degree in aroma-science to be good at
what she does. It just comes natural. Not using your talent is
devastating to your well being, just as serious as covering your
dog's nose with a really smelly sock and asking her to find her
way home. Intuitively, people know they are born with natural
proclivities. We can't help but notice the varying talents in
our colleagues and friends; it's usually obvious who are the
natural born politicians, comedians, problem solvers, tinker-masters,
counselors, critics, and philosophers. Each of us has a unique
blend of inborn abilities that make up a big part of our unique
personhood.
Unless you have a trained eye, it's not easy to distinguish
your natural talents from your learned skills. And, our special
human ability to adapt and "learn" to survive in a
variety of environments complicates this further--we can learn
to do things that we have little or no natural talent for. I've
met many people with a PhD in a career field that doesn't fit
their strengths. This is like a squirrel getting a doctorate
in climbing skyscrapers, they can "learn" to do it,
but it's not much fun for them! To share a personal example,
I was brilliant at surviving the skills required to be an electrical
engineer. I was a genius at struggling, trying to get better
where I had little to no natural ability. Engineering never came
easy to me; I had to work thirteen times harder than my classmates
to get a B average. Looking back, I was like that squirrel trying
to make a living in the New York City. Just imagine a bunch of
grumpy, highly over-educated squirrels riding the subway to work
to climb skyscrapers in mid-town Manhattan. You can bet those
squirrels are dreaming of going to work in Central Park, where
life comes natural and easy to them.
Simply put, skills come easier if you have the raw, inborn
talent to learn them. A big tip--let go of trying to learn stuff
you're not good at. Have you ever radically advanced yourself
in a skill that you stink in? To put things in perspective, high
school and college are mostly a "skills" factory. Few
of us make it through the whole production line with flying colors;
we usually fall off the conveyor belt somewhere along the way.
For example, we are not all born with the inborn talent to do
mathematics. Some of us excel in learning it, while others never
seem to really get it. Many of us learned math skills because
we had to; the teacher would've flunked us otherwise. Learning
math is incredibly difficult if you don't have the underlying
natural talents; no matter how hard you try, it will always seem
like rocket science. To reach your full potential and excel in
your craft, job, or profession requires a precise fit with your
strengths.
Through brain research, aptitude testing, and observing human
beings at "play" it is clear that scientists and engineers are cut
from a special cloth. The aptitudes and talents that fuel the
world's best engineering and scientific minds are measurable
and, to some degree, observable in everyday life. For example,
engineers (who really love their work) say that they remember
playing like an engineer as a kid; they couldn't keep their hands
away from taking apart watches, radios, building tree houses,
and inventing weird 3-D gadgets in the basement. Built into this
playful tinkering is a natural curiosity to understand and see
how "things" in the physical world work. One of the
key inborn abilities to do this is "Spatial Orientation,"
those high in it have a gift to visualize 3-dimensional (3-D)
objects in their mind's eye. Spatially talented people usually
experience life in a "physical" way. This talent is
often expressed by perceiving, visualizing, designing, and improving
tangible objects; also known as "engineering." Even
without a degree in engineering, the "natural" engineer
rarely stops conceptualizing, tinkering, making, and being fascinated
by the world of things. Some of the best engineers I've met have
no formal schooling; they just "be" who they are.
In the science, engineering, computer, and IT professions there are
several specific talents that distinguish the extraordinary from
the average. Those born with the essential talents for a chosen
field, as well as the passion and commitment, have a significant
edge over those who do not. Understanding how to use your natural
talent will help you pave a career path that brings you joy,
recognition, and long-term success. In the workplace it's easy
to spot those who are tapping their natural talent--they are
the best at what they do and usually approach their work with
boundless enthusiasm.
- The Technololgy Tribal - Extraordinary at seeing 3-D
in their mind's eye, these gizmo-oriented engineers are also
strong problem solvers. This talent combo is a gift for analyzing
and/or diagnosing problems in the spatial realm (i.e., structural
versus conceptual reality). By temperament, they have a practical,
crew-member-mentality, are introverted, realists, logical, steady;
and do their best work implementing and fixing real-world tangible
"thingamajig" problems. They usually dislike work that
involves imagining new possibilities, abstractions, and uncertainties.
Should be weary of promotions to business and people management
(non-spatial) roles, or risk becoming a grumpy squirrel. Excel
as Project Engineers, Programmers, Database Administrators, Troubleshooters,
Field Engineers, and Network Technicians.
- The Physical Science Maestro - Gifted at innovating, inventing,
and developing new approaches to solving 3-D problems, these
engineers are dreamers of new and better ideas. They prefer to
use their superhuman problem-solving aptitude to "pioneer"
new ways of doing things in the spatial realm. By temperament
they have a visionary, solo-expert-mentality, are introverted,
intuitive, imaginative, critical perfectionists, analytical,
quick-minded, spontaneous, and do their best work experimenting,
researching, and inventing new technologies and methodologies.
They usually dislike routine, repetition, and implementation
oriented work. Should totally avoid promotions to business and
people management (non-spatial) roles at all costs. Excel as
R&D Engineers, Inventors, Design Engineers, and Leading-edge
Technologists.
- The Business Management Tribal - Misfits on the engineering
front-line, these brave souls yearn to solve more abstract problems,
such as human behavior and business management. Weak in natural
ability to see in 3-D, they usually have little to no genuine
interest in the world of making and troubleshooting physical
things. Non-spatial Intuitive-Feelers
excel in solving "people" problems; thriving as Coaches,
Presenters, Technical Team Leaders, Customer Requirements Experts,
Technical Marketers, and Technical Sales Managers. If gifted
at conceptualizing new ideas in the logical business realm, they
soar as Business Developers, Strategic thinkers, Division Managers,
Marketing Directors, Organizational Developers, and CEOs.
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Now that we've revealed part of the talent mystery we can
laugh at ourselves--realizing that squirrels and dogs do it everyday.
In sum, go be your best self. Abraham Maslow addressed human
talent superbly: A musician must make his music, an artist
must paint, an poet must write if he is to ultimately be a peace
with himself.
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