Creativity Talent and
Skill
One
can detect many layers in the above image. It seems very chaotic, yet
upon closer examination it is more about the sum of it parts than the
whole. It is framed in a deep green that melds well into the whole of
the image. There are four separate very blazing abstract colored
pencil drawings. They are placed in the four corners. Each drawing
is unique yet one can tell that they are similar in style. In the
center is a oil painting, a landscape, with a water fall brook in
the background. The main subject is a tree, that is shaped like a
woman with her arms outstretched to the sky. If that is not enough
overlaid on the image on either side of the tree painting are two
poems. Lastly the words create, creative and creativity sweep across
the middle and top of the image.
cre·ate: verb \krē-ˈāt, ˈkrē-ˌ\ to bring into existence (A)
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 open drawing pad. She tells herself
there are no mistakes, then she closes her eyes and picks a colored
pencil from the 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. She looks at it and
highlights a few areas that have intrigue her. She uses this process
to create many more drawings. She has created works of beauty that
will lay a foundation for an image many years later.
The
woman sat down at her computer. 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 sculpture 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.(B) Where as talent is defined
as : a characteristic feature, aptitude, or
disposition of a person or animal : the natural
endowments of a person. (C)
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)
“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.
In his article 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.” He writes about skill as:
“Skill takes time and effort to develop and is not innate and
skills are more likely measurable and technical.” (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.
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 as 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.
The 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. Here we could start to argue about
what success is. Is a person who only hangs his artwork in his home,
any less successful than an artist with works in an art gallery? I
think of myself as talented but not all that skillful. If I was
successful would it mean that I could make a living from my talent?
I think that my talent is a broad stroked 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
might take me places I have yet to imagine.
References
Coyle,
Daniel (2009). The Talent
Code New
York:Bantam Books ( Chapter
1 The Sweet Spot.) (4)
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