Talent vs Skill

A woman sits down in her easy chair. She makes herself comfortable and draws a coffee table up to her lap. On the coffee table she places a drawing pad, off to one side on a chair she sets a tin of colored pencils. In her mind she thinks of the word ayahausca, she says this over and over. She stares at the the open drawing pad. She tells her self there are no mistakes, than she closes her eyes and picks a colored pencil from tin and starts to draw. She keeps saying the word ayahausca over and over. She repeats this process of closing her eyes and picking a colored pencil over and over. It takes several days for her to complete her drawing. She looks at it and highlights a few areas that have intrigue her. For this image she repeats the process three more times. The second word she focuses on is Peyeto, the third she is thinking of a friend, the fourth and final drawing focus is of herself. She has created works of beauty that will lay a foundation for an image many years later.

Long before the drawings, this woman sat at an easel with her oil paint at the ready. She stared at the canvas, she started with the sky and earth, a brook came out of the canvas. The final layer turned into a magnificent tree, that was shaped like a woman with her arm out stretched. Another layer of the image came into being.

At some point in this woman's life, words were forming in her mind. It was about thunder, she began to write out the words, they took shape and had their own unique form. The end of the pose poem was about horses, which had started the words forming in her mind. At another time she was thinking about Mother Earth. Words started to form in her mind about goddess and there link to the Earth, sure enough as she wrote the words they began to take form and they had a shape and design to them. The poem pose about “The Great Goddess” was born. Another part of the image came into being.

Lastly the woman sat down at her computer. She needed an image to write about expertise in the English Composition course she was taking on line. At first she thought she would write about the five generation family farm of her cousins that will soon be put up for sale, but that was not really her area of expertise. In fact she couldn't think of one specific area of expertise that stood out to her. Than she remember how she had described herself in one word to a person. She told that person that the core of her being is creative. The proverbial light bulb went on, that is it. She is creative, whether or not it be a drawing, a poem, a photograph, an event,a clay scuplture or a garden. So she sat down and created the image for her writing. She layered it with art work and pose that she had done over the years and added the root word create in some of it forms. This image would lay the foundation for her argument of talent versus skill.

The Merriam Webster dictionary defines skill as : a learned power of doing something competently : a developed aptitude or ability.(A) Where as talent is defined as : a characteristic feature, aptitude, or disposition of a person or animal : the natural endowments of a person. (B)

“The Separation between talent and skill is one of the greatest misunderstood concepts.” “Talent you have naturally.” “Skill is only developed by hours and hours and hours of beating on your craft.” “I don’t really view myself as particularly talented.” “Where I excel is ridiculous, sickening work ethic.” “While the other guys are sleeping, I am working.” “While the other guys are eating, I am working.” Will Smith (1)

In the above Will Smith feels that he has skills that he has worked on. If he hadn't work hard on developing skills than he would not have been as successful.

“Good writers don’t rely on inspiration. They don’t use "talent" as a crutch. They don’t need luck. Instead, they develop skills.”

Kami M McArthur

1/2/2013 (2)

In David Farlands Daily kick in the pants Talent vs Skill he starts of with the above quote. He goes on to start his point with the following.

As authors, we’ve all read stories by authors that make us think, “Wow, I wish that I had his/her talent!” We’re trained to believe that writing well is somehow . . . mystical. We’re taught that we have to be born with talent, or perhaps a muse must whisper into our ears. But good writers don’t rely on inspiration. They don’t use "talent" as a crutch. They don’t need luck. Instead, they develop skills.(2)

In his article David Farland acknowledges that all of us have talent. He describes that he didn't have the aptitude for the mandolin, yet when he work with clay, it came easy to him. He believes to prefect a craft even if one is talent with it, that it takes practice through a learned set of skills. He notes that he spent fourteen hours a day for six months perfecting his writing skills. Farland concluded that skill is more valuable than talent.

Mike Puglielli is a 5 year creative designer. In his article titled “Learning your Craft” Talent vs Skill. Mike writes about talent, but believes skill is equally and more important than talent like Farland. In his article Mike wrote the following about talent.

Your talent is innate. Innate in that, you are born to be artistic. You have that intrinsic, artistic identity that was there right after leaving the womb. Talent blossoms, grows, and reveals itself (and its intentions) early when you’re a child. What’s great about talent, is that it finds a way—doesn’t matter what opportunities you have, whatever you’re talented in eventually shows through, and in this case, designing. Talent, as some say, is “God-given”. (3)

His writes about skill as:

Having skill is nearly the opposite to having talent. That doesn’t mean it is a bad thing, I will argue it is the most important, but more on that later. Skill takes time and effort to develop and is not innate and skills are more likely measurable and technical. Some qualities that make someone skillful could, however, be innate; things like hard work, dedication, persistence, and etc, are all things that help foster great skill—you could be born with these qualities. But skill is developed. (3)

Puglielle goes on to explain in his article that talent will only get you so far. To excel with your talent you need to work at it. He explains that learning skills will perfect your talent. Talent can't be relied on for it has a fall off point. It is at this point that skill takes over, and it is also at his point that some give up because they can't relie on their talent. Puglielle believes you don't have to have talent to be a great designer. It will take lots of skills to become great at it. Talent will only take you so far.

These two articles by Farland and Puglielle point out to me that we all can have a certain talent for a certain craft. Yet is the skills that we learn around our talent that propels us forward to secede in the field that foster our talent. I am very talented at creating art. Yet that talent will only take me so far unless I build the necessary skills to enhance my talent. In someway the articles point to being successful with talent built by skills. Yet to enjoy your talent doesn’t mean you don’t' have to be successful or even skillful. I think of myself as talented but not all that skillful. If I was successful it would mean that I could make a living from my talent. As of yet I haven't found that. I think that my talent is such a board stoked concept it is hard for me to pin it down to one venture. If I focused on just my writing than I could become skilled at it. If I focused just on my art work, it probably would take me places I have yet to imagine.

To circle back around to Coyle's work of “The Talent Code” the first chapter “The Sweet Spot”.(4) In which Coyle postulate that talent is not born it is earned. Coyle explained that one needed to work on the edge of ones ability in “deep practice” to become talented. It would seem that Coyle was really explaining skill not talent. If he had titled his book “The Skill Code”. It may have not sold many copies. The way it was written was a clever way to attract readers and skillfully explain skill disgusted as talent. So in that way Coyle is a skillful writer.

References

(A)http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/talent

(B)http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/skill

1. http://ivanhoff.com/2012/08/23/skill-vs-talent-2/
2. http://www.davidfarland.net/writing_tips/?a=166
3. http://inspiredology.com/learning-your-craft-talent-vs-skill/
4. Coyle, Daniel (2009). The Talent Code New York:Bantam Books ( Chapter 1 The Sweet Spot.)

I decided my review was not finished, something was bothering me. I think I found it between Talent and Skill.

 Heidi Feather

Professor Denise Comer

English Composition I: Achieving Expertise

April 11, 2013

Review: Coyle, Daniel (2009). The Talent Code New York:Bantam Books ( Chapter 1 The Sweet Spot.)

The story is about the authors quest to find Everest size talent. His quest takes him on a journey for fourteen months. He travels from Brazil to New York's Adirondacks, to California and into the Caribbean. He embarks on this quest to find answers. He wants to know why the Brazilian Soccer team is the best in the world. He searches to find out why flight simulators are so accurate to train pilots. Daniel Coyle comes to the conclusion that when people are trained through “deep practice” they learn to excel.

The chapter starts of with a comment by Coyle's daughter; “Daddy's going on a treasure hunt.” (12) Coyle's main argument is that talent is not born it is earned by deep practice. He asked readers to recall words from two different list. One list is just a pair of words and the other is a pair of words with letters missing. He writes “that most people remember more of the words that contained fragments.” “Studies show that most people remember three times as many.” “This is the essence of deep practice.”(16) He continues that “ Deep practice is built on a paradox: struggling in certain targeted ways—operating at the edges of your ability, where you make mistakes—makes you smarter.”(18) He introduces Robert Bjork the chair of psychology at UCLA, who has spent most of his life delving into questions of memory and learning. Coyle quote's Bjork who said “Things that appear to be obstacles turn out to be desirable in the long haul.” “One real encounter, even for a few seconds, is far more useful than several hundred observations.” (18) He continues with Bjork who according to Coyle, concluded that there is a “Sweet Spot in learning.” “When you find that sweet spot, learning takes off” said Bjork “When you practice deeply,” the usual rules are suspended.” “You use time more efficiently.” “Your small efforts produce big lasting results.”(19)

Coyle gives the most compelling evidence to this theory starting on page twenty. Here he begins to tell the reader about Edwin Link's unusual device, as Coyle calls it. It takes several pages for Coyle to explain how Link learns to fly a plane.(20) He quotes Link about his flying lesson. “For the better part of that hour we did loops and spins and buzzed everything in sight.” “Thank heaven I didn't get sick, but when we got down, I hadn't touched the controls at all.” “It thought what a hell of a way to teach someone to fly”.(21) Coyle goes on and explains how Link built the Aviation Trainer. Coyle explains that it took a series of accidents in the Airmail system, before Link's invention became popular. Coyle explains how “ Links trainer permitted pilots to practice more deeply, to stop, struggle, make errors, and learn from them.” “During a few hours in a Link trainer, a pilot could “take off” and “land” a dozen times on instruments.” “He could dive, stall, and recover, spending hours inhabiting the sweet spot at the edge of his capabilities in ways he could never risk in an actual plane”. (24)

Coyle latter explains how the game of fustal played all over Brazil, teaches future soccer stars, by putting them into deep practice. The game fustal is played with a small and heavy ball, the play is more intense and the players move more quicker and handle the ball more than in soccer.

This reader feels that, what Coyle is referring to is a skill not talent. The online Merriam Webster dictionary describes talent as : a characteristic feature, aptitude, or disposition of a person or animal.(a) This dictionary also describes a skill as :a learned power of doing something competently : a developed aptitude or ability.(b) There is no question in this readers mind, that Coyle is describing a skill in his description of Link's trainer. This reader is a daughter of an avid aviator, who has heard it mentioned that many pilots are considered skilled. In this readers encounters only a few pilots have had the distinction of being called talented by fellow pilots. This may be the reason that Coyle failed to mention savants and children with unexplained extraordinary talents. There are many us that can become more skilled in an area of our choosing. There are those few that have that have the unknowable factor that is known simply as talent.

A treasure hunt could be the way to describe Coyle's writing. It took several pages for this reader to even figure out what Coyle was writing about. At first this reader thought the book was about the Brazilian soccer team. This made the reading slow and confusing. His arguments seem compelling enough, but it left this reader wondering how Coyle came to the conclusion that all talent is earned through deep practice. This reader found the Chapter hard to navigate, it came off as rather boring. There were a few nuggets of interesting stories, but overall no treasure. In closing, this reader wouldn't recommend Coyle's book.

References:

Coyle, Daniel (2009). The Talent Code New York:Bantam Books

(a) Merriam Webster online dictionary http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/talent

(b) Merriam Webster online dictionary http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/skill

Review: Coyle, Daniel (2009). The Talent Code New York:Bantam Books ( Chapter 1 The Sweet Spot.)

The story is about the authors guest to find Everest size talent. His quest takes him on journey for fourteen months. He travels from Brazil to New York's Adirondacks, to California and into the Caribbean. He embarks on this quest to find answers. He wants to know why the Brazilian Soccer team is the best in the world. He searches to find out why flight simulators are so accurate to train pilots. Daniel Coyle comes to the conclusion that when people are trained through “deep practice” they learn to excel.

The chapter starts of on page 12 with a comment by Coyle's daughter; “Daddy's going on a treasure hunt.” Coyle's main argument is that talent is not born it is earned by deep practice, which he explains on page 16. On page 16 he asked readers to recall words from two different list. One list is just a pair of words and the other is a pair of words with letters missing. He writes “that most people remember more of the words that contained fragments.” Studies show that most people remember three times as many. This is the essence of deep practice he explains. He continues on page 18 that “ Deep practice is built on a paradox: struggling in certain targeted ways—operating at the edges of your ability, where you make mistakes—makes you smarter.” Also on page 18 he introduces Robert Bjork the chair of psychology at UCLA, who has spent most of his life delving into questions of memory and learning, writes Coyle. Coyle quote's Bjork who said “Things that appear to be obstacles turn out to be desirable in the long haul. One real encounter, even for a few seconds, is far more useful than several hundred observations.” On page 19 he continues with Bjork who according to Coyle, concluded that there is a “Sweet Spot in learning.” “When you find that sweet spot, learning takes off” said Bjork

“When you practice deeply,” writes Coyle, “the usual rules are suspended. You use time more efficiently. Your small efforts produce big lasting results.”

Coyle gives the most compelling evidence to this theory starting on page 20. Here he begins to tell the reader about Edwin Link's unusual device, as Coyle calls it. It takes several pages for Coyle to explain how Link learns to fly a plane. He quotes Link about his flying lesson on page 21 “For the better part of that hour we did loops and spins and buzzed everything in sight.” “Thank heaven I didn't get sick, but when we got down, I hadn't touched the controls at all. It thought what a hell of a way to teach someone to fly”. Coyle goes on and explains how Link built the Aviation Trainer. Coyle explains that it took a series of accidents in the Airmail system, before Link's invention became popular. On page 24 Coyle explains how “ Links trainer permitted pilots to practice more deeply, to stop, struggle, make errors, and learn from them. During a few hours in a Link trainer, a pilot could “take off” and “land” a dozen times on instruments. He could dive, stall, and recover, spending hours inhabiting the sweet spot at the edge of his capabilities in ways he could never risk in an actual plane”. Coyle latter explains how the game of fustal played all over Brazil, teaches future soccer stars, by putting them into deep practice. The game fustal is played with a small and heavy ball, the play is more intense and the players move more quicker and handle the ball more than in soccer.

A treasure hunt could be the way to describe Coyle's writing. It took several pages for this reader to even figure out what Coyle was writing about. At first this reader thought the book was about the Brazilian soccer team. This reader found it confusing when he cited two people of different disciplines that seemed to have no connection to each other. His arguments seem compelling enough, but it left this reader wondering how Coyle came to the conclusion that all talent is earned through deep practice. In this opening chapter he failed to mention savants and children with unexplained extraordinary talents. There were a few nuggets of interesting stories, but overall no treasure. In closing, this reader wouldn't recommend Coyle's book. It came off rather boring, slow and not all that engaging.