Be Interesting

When I was 15, I spent a month working on an archeological dig.  I was talking to one of the archeologists one day during our lunch break and he asked those kinds of “getting to know you” questions you ask young people:  Do you play sports?  What’s your favorite subject?  And I told him, no I don’t play any sports.  I do theater, I’m in choir, I play the violin and piano, I used to take art classes.
And he went WOW.  That’s amazing!  And I said,  “Oh no, but I’m not any good at ANY of them.”
And he said something then that I will never forget and which absolutely blew my mind because no one had ever said anything like it to me before:  “I don’t think being good at things is the point of doing them.  I think you’ve got all these wonderful experiences with different skills, and that all teaches you things and makes you an interesting person, no matter how well you do them.”
And that honestly changed my life.  Because I went from a failure, someone who hadn’t been talented enough at anything to excel, to someone who did things because I enjoyed them.  I had been raised in such an achievement-oriented environment, so inundated with the myth of Talent, that I thought it was only worth doing things if you could “Win” at them.
—    Kurt Vonnegut
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On This Day In:
2020	To Our #IdiotInChief: Wear A Mask!
2019	Silent Purpose
2018	Just Bake The Cake, Man
2017	Visible Proof
2016	Poor Enough Means
2015	Still Standing
	Follow Your Heart
2014	Just Reminded
2013	A Fine Balance
2012	One Measure
2011	Seeking The Common Ground
	In Brightest Day…

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Still Learning (And Practicing) Guitar

Even if I lack the talent, I will not abandon the effort on that account….  We do not abandon any discipline for despair of ever being the best in it.
—     Epictetus
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On This Day In:
2020	Remembering…
	You KNEW That Man Was Trippin’
2019	Kingslanding
2018	I’d Bet On Taxes
	Ooops! I Spoke Too Soon
2017	A Cautionary Wish
2016	Slogging
	It’s About…
	Man / Man
2015	Memorial Day – 2015
	Content People Love To Share
2014	I Resemble That Remark
2013	Long Range Exploration
2012	UBI
2011	Opportunity

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Gifts

Your talent is God’s gift to you.  What you do with it is your gift back to God.
—   Dr. Leo F. Buscaglia
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On This Day In:
2020	A Strength Of Science
2019	A Higher Standard
	Make Two Calls
2018	Irreplaceable Sparks
2017	Saving For April 15th
2016	First Wish
2015	Tracing Shadows
2014	One Thing
2013	More Is Less
2012	The Screw-Up Gene

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Bull’s Eye

Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see.
—    Arthur Schopenhauer
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On This Day In:
2016	Gifts
	Jacked 3
2015	I’d Settle For Interesting
2014	Old Math
2013	Adequate Explanation
2012	Superior Discovery
2011	Welcome Home And Thank You!!
	Two Heritages

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Talent Hates To Move

Yet hiring managers, VCs, and tech-focused talent agencies worship at the altar of the A-player, assuming that they need a fleet of superstars to build a great company.  And they’re willing to steal them, if necessary.  …   After all, exceptional employees aren’t just a little bit better than the average worker.  They’re 1,000 times better.  They’re more productive, more creative … more everything.  We should shower them with money and perks and do whatever it takes to keep them happy.  Right?
Wrong.  Companies are better served when they double down on cultivating in-house talent instead.  Sure, superstar workers exist.  And yes, they can be extremely productive and beneficial to a company’s bottom line.  But their stardom is frequently context-­specific, and it doesn’t always survive the transfer.  When Harvard Business School professor Boris Groysberg looked at the talent portability of 1,052 rock-star financial analysts, he found that about half did poorly in the year following their switch.  And those whose work suffered never recovered.
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Star talent is partly innate, sure, but it’s also linked to specific teams and projects or just the culture of a company.  As Jeffrey Pfeffer, a professor of organizational behavior at Stanford, puts it: “People’s performance is a function not just of their individual abilities but also of the systems in which they work.”  Talent, it seems, really hates to move around.
—    Bryan Gardiner
From the article: “Forget Stars — Companies Do Best When They Grow Their Own Talent“
Appearing in Wired Magazine, dtd: July 2016
The following is a link to the original article:  http://www.wired.com/2016/07/forget-stars-companies-best-grow-talent/
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On This Day In:
2016	Looking To November
2015	It Isn’t The End
	Prospero’s Precepts
2014	Friends
2013	Learning Bitter
2012	Remembrance, Minstrels & Going Off To War
	May I Have More Happiness, Please?
2011	There Is No God, But God
2010	Another Running Book…

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Well, Maybe Not “No” Talent

10 Things That Require Zero Talent
Being on time
Work Ethic
Effort
Body language
Energy
Attitude
Passion
Being Coachable
Doing Extra
Being Prepared
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On This Day In:
2015	An Appetite For Life
	A Trip To The Library
	Great Expectations
2014	Pass The Soul
2013	Zapping Music And Art
2012	Not Quite Fantastic
	That Kid Is Back
2011	Wolves At The Door
2010	I’m Feeling Patriotic… (Well, more than usual, anyway.)
	Beating the Heat…

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How To Be Omnipotent

Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.  Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.  Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.  Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.  Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.
—    Calvin Coolidge
[Emphasis provided by yours truly…    —    KMAB]
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On This Day In:
2014	The Promise Of Future Love
2013	Christian, n.
2012	Praise
	Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood
2011	A Few More Lyrics From The Past
	5 For The Price Of 1

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