…any knowledge about what makes us better at the things we want to do… can be used not just to make us richer but also to make us happier.
16
Talent is Overrated:
…our views about talent, which are extremely deeply held, are extraordinarily important for the future of our lives, our children’s lives, our companies, and the people in them.
20
Talent is Overrated:
Understanding the reality of talent is worth a great deal.
20
Talent is Overrated:
[Talent]… is a natural ability to do something better than most people can do it… And it is innate; you’re born with it, and if you’re not born with it, you can’t acquire it.
21
Talent is Overrated:
…from examining the early lives of business greats… they didn’t seem to hold any identifiable gift or give any early indication of what they would become.
31
Talent is Overrated:
…memory, along with general intelligence, is widely regarded as a key skill of great performers.
38
Talent is Overrated:
…research doesn’t support the view that extraordinary natural general abilities… are necessary for high achievement.
39
Talent is Overrated:
…in a wide range of fields… the connection between general intelligence and specific ability is weak and in some cases apparently nonexistent.
39
Talent is Overrated:
Among workers overall, average IQ increases with the complexity of the work, which seems totally unsurprising. It supports what most of us would suppose: Smarter people do better.
41
Talent is Overrated:
…our view that intelligence necessarily produces better performance is so deep that it may occasionally even blind us to reality.
