âNo, no, I think youâre born with talents and you acquire skillsâ were the words of one of my colleagues only a few days ago. Words that got me thinking about what talents and skills actually are and how people acquire them.
Are you born talented? Or do you have to work to develop it? What about skills; surely some people are naturally gifted to have a certain skill set, but canât everyone eventually learn a skill?
It reminded me of a saying â Hard work beats talent, when talent doesnât work hard.
So letâs dissect the two areas and see what we haveâŚ
Talent
âNatural aptitude or skill.â
If someone is born with a natural ability for something they are said to have a talent for it. Whether it’s genetics that makes someone more suited for something or it some mystical ability that a person happens to have from birth, it seems that talent canât be taught, it is natural.
By this definition, aren’t we constantly using the word in false context? âRoger Federer is very talentedâ â well firstly, at what? You canât really answer ‘tennis’, he wasnât born a Wimbledon champion, it took years of work for him to develop the ability to be a champion. So what was the talent he was born with? Mentality, perhaps good genetics to train his body hard, good eyesight, or will we just have to classify it as an unknown set of abilities that work for tennis and he is able to excel faster than others because of this head start, whatever it may be.
Skill
âThe ability to do something wellâ.
You can definitely learn a skill, playing the piano, for example, is a skill that is learnt. It may take longer for some people than others but everyone can make some progress in learning a new skill. It is the development of an ability.
Roger Federer has hundreds of skills that accumulate to make him a world class tennis player; his serve, his ability to read the game, perhaps even his work ethic is a skill. Are they all built up over time or was he born able to do such things?
I view skills and talents are very mutual things, you canât have one without the other.
I do believe in natural ability â a talent â and therefore do think that some people are born with a head start, not everyone can run like Usain Bolt! However, I believe talent can be extended upon through the accumulation of skills as if theyâre building blocks. Have enough blocks in place and you have extended, or create a new, talent.
Perhaps if this depiction is accurate, hard work really can beat talent, if talent doesn’t work hard.