The Diwali celebrations in the Deloitte Bengaluru office made me come face to face with what real talent and passion can achieve. We, at Deloitte, are all referred to as "Talents" and there are fulfledged departments like"Talent Acquisition" and "Talent Development" to manage all the in-house talent effectively. It feels good to associated with the term "Talent".
It also made me think on the term "Talent". Like everyone else I have always been dazzled by the "Talented" whiz kids and often wondered what made them special till I came across "Statistics" and a guy named "Malcolm Gladwell".
When you draw a scatter plot, there are few isolated points that are found quire far off from the usual suspects or bunches of points. In statistical parlance those isolated points are called "Oultiers". If we draw an analogy between those points and people, "Outleirs" are those talented people that we all aspire to be.
However, there is a twist to it-all genuine outliers with superlative IQ's and abilities beyond the realms of everyday parameters, do not achieve great heights commensurate with their capacities. Herein comes Mr Gladwell and his path breaking book called-what else but "Outliers"!!
Its fascinating to learn from Mr. Gladwell that talented individuals become great achievers because of a lot of other factors. Mere superlative raw talent is not enough. Achievemrnt therefore is a function of time,parentage,geographical location,appropriate opportunities and many other intangibles.
Based on the above understanding, I would like to discuss here about some of my favourite talents:
1) Sachin Tendulkar: Who will doubt this man's talent and ability with the Willow? He is just beyond comprehension. However, let us also stop by and acknowledge the contributions of the following factors in the making of Tendulkar:
a) His middle class and cultured background.
b) His brother Ajit Tendulkar who spotted Sachin's talent and took all the necessary steps to give his brother the best of chances to flourish.
c) The fact that Sachin was born in Mumbai-the cradle of Indian cricket.
d) The opportunity that Mr. Ramakant Achrekar, Sachin's coach gave him in Shivaji Park.
e) The opportunity that the great Dilip Vengsarkar gave him as his first captain. Dilip had the capability to handle, guide and mould such a precocous talent. He knew exactly when Tebdulakr was to be blooded into the national team.
This is is no way denying Sachin's dedication, talent and hardwork. This is just to accentuate the fact that a lot many factors were also responsible for making Tendulkar what he is today.
When talking of Tendulkar, let us also acknowledge the talent of a certain Vinod Kambli. Some say he was even more talented than Sachin during their schooldays. In fact at some point both of them were genuine "Outliers". However, Vinod could never reach the heights that he was destined to. We can attribute his underachievements to lack of discipline, lack of maturity, inability to handle success, bad lifestyle, lack of strong family bondage, lack of cultured and educated family background etc etc.
Therefore it is apt to say that for every Tendulkar there is a Kambli.
2) Wasim Akram: The great man could bowl six different deliveries in one over and that too with subtle adjustments of his wrist. The man was in his teens and had not even played a single first class match when the great Imran Khan noticed him in a club match and inducted the young Wasim into the national side. Only Imran, who was a great judge of men and their capabilities, could do such an outrageous thing. Therefore it is apt to say that though Akram was a true outlier, the fact that he was noticed by Imran who had the power and vision to take a decision of fielding him into the team was significant factors towards making Akram what he eventually became. Imran knew that Wasim did not need to go through the grimes of first class cricket. He understood that first class cricket could do him more damage than good.
Now let us also talk of a cricketer called Salim Jaffer-who was also a left arm seamer and Akram's contemporary. He was at one point considered equal to Wasim in talent. Infact he was able to bowl nippy in-dippers from round the wicket to right handers that Wasim was not able to at that point in time. Salim never achieved great heights-he fell on the way side due to lack of focus and self discipline.
Therefore, it is also apt to say that for every Wasim Akram there is a Salim Jaffer.
There is no doubt therefore that talent is a good thing to have but mere talent is not enough.
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