Podcast episode (Heroic +1 #1,454) in which Brian Johnson explains the difference between talent and skill using Seth Godin’s distinction and Angela Duckworth’s equations (talent×effort→skill; skill×effort→achievement). He illustrates the idea with a personal anecdote about his 10-year-old son Emerson improving at chess via focused practice (Chesskid.com referenced) and emphasizes that effort counts twice: it builds skill and makes skill productive.
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Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another heroic plus one. In our last plus one, we learned how to politely and unapologetically say no to the smorgasbord of distraction by saying yes to what we know we are here to do. Today we're going to continue our exploration of wisdom from Seth Godin's great book, the Practice as we focus on the difference between talent and skill. Talent and skill may seem like the same thing, but they're not. And we'd be wise to know the difference. Here's how Seth puts it, and I quote, talent is something we're born with. It's in our DNA, a magical alignment of gifts. But skill. Skill is earned. It's learned and practiced and hard won. It's insulting to call a professional talented. She's skilled first and foremost. Many people have talent, but only a few care enough to show up and fully earn their skill. Skill is rarer than talent. Skill is earned. Skill is available to anyone who cares enough. He says, if you put the effort into your practice, you, you will be rewarded with better better taste, better judgment and better capabilities. In the words of Steve Martin, I had no talent. None. Talent versus skill. I repeat, those are two very different things. And when I read that passage, I immediately thought of Angela Duckworth. Duckworth, as you almost certainly know, if you've been following along, wrote the book on grit. In her great book, Angela articulates the difference between talent and and skill from a scientific perspective and describes the way they relate to each other. She echoes Seth's wisdom nearly perfectly when she tells us, and I quote, talent is how quickly your skills improve when you invest effort and achievement is what happens when you take your acquired skills and use them. She sums that up with two equations to capture the relationship between talent and and effort. Talent times effort equals skill, skill times effort equals achievement. And she continues by saying, what this theory says is that when you consider individuals in identical circumstances, what each achieves depends on just two things, talent and effort. Talent. How fast we can improve a skill absolutely matters. But effort factors into the calculations twice, not once. Effort builds skill, and at the very same time, effort makes skill productive. Now, as I type that out, I thought of our 10 year old son Emerson, and the effort he's currently putting into chess, which is leveraging some natural talent he has. And leading to powerful gains in skill. Here's the quick context Emerson recently got really into chess and after a couple of years of casual play, he got good enough to beat everyone he played but me. Then we stumbled upon a group of adults who played chess at a park in Austin every Saturday. He played with them, did surprisingly well, and loved everything about it. One of the dads of the other kid who played with the adults told us about a site called Chesskid.com highly recommend that for parents whose kids are into chess. Chesskid.com Now Emerson goes to nature school twice a week and when he's not there we homeschool him and give him a lot of autonomy to do what he wants to do. So he spent hours a day studying chess for weeks and now months, and the effort he put in to leveraging his natural talent led to a higher level of skill. The continued effort he put in, multiplied by the skill he developed led to him consistently and easily beating me within two months into him winning the beginners group at the weekend Adults tournament. Moral of the story Find something you and or your kids, clients, colleagues, etc. Enjoy in which you might have some natural talent and put in the effort to develop skill. Put in more effort to maximize that skill and create achievements you're proud of. Remember, effort counts twice. Practice, practice, practice. That's what my kids will tell you is how you get good at anything.
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