Let’s Re-think “talent”
Sometimes people say to me and to each other “you’re so talented!” It’s meant as a compliment and I take it as such. I hope you do too, when you hear it. So the following remarks are not about accepting and celebrating natural gifts. We all have them in varying degrees and different areas and they are nice. I, for example, may have some talent at needle arts and ZERO talent in the area of basketball, but I gather that those who do possess basketball talent get a lot of enjoyment from it.
The subject on my mind today is that, in celebrating talent, I think I’ve spotted a cultural tendency to overlook the contribution of hard work in success at anything. And that includes knitting. Remember what Grandma said: “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” Add what Thomas Edison said: Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety nine percent perspiration.” Communication these days is instantaneous. Shopping in the modern world means that we can usually get the goods we want when we want them. I love being able to pursue an idle interest in the moment via Google. But some things will never become instantaneous and expertise is one of them.
Taking basketball as an example, what separates the big sports stars from everyone else? Talent is surely a player. Height and natural physical excellence are helpful. But did any of them ever reach the top of their game without hours upon hours, days, weeks and years of practice and drills? No.
For part of my career, I was supervisor of a newspaper night shift of what was then called the “paste up” department of a newspaper. It was a job that benefited from intelligence, quickness and a bit of artistic ability so the people who applied and worked for me often had those qualities. I enjoyed them, but supervising a bunch of smart, artistic people is a bit like herding monkeys. I soon discovered that the most important quality in a paste up artist was willingness to work hard and long and accept correction with equanimity and keep working. As it turned out, some of my very best employees had the least natural talent. But with persistence, they learned to turn out top notch work and did so reliably.
Here’s how all of this relates to knitting: Whether knitting on two needles, a loom or a machine, knitting is a skill that requires the ability to visualize something and bring it into being by means of physical actions. Conceptual and motor skills are both in play. It’s a great head start to have natural physical and mental talent in these areas but absolutely nobody is born into the world as a good knitter. It takes practice. Some of our efforts are not going to succeed. When that happens, remember Grandma and “try, try again.”
This is where I take issue with “talent”. Because talent is in-born, we can’t do anything about it. So if we assign the success of someone we admire to pure talent, we do two very negative things. First, we overlook the enormous effort this person has made to turn talent into skill. Second, we imply that those who lack natural talent simply couldn’t succeed. It’s not true. With enough effort, we can all succeed at almost anything. Can I become a good enough basketball player to be desirable in the NBA? Um….NO. But can I learn to play basketball competently? Of course. It’s a game with rules I can learn and skills I can work on. The same is true of knitting. Everyone can learn it, even some with significant disabilities.
It’s an open question whether you want to put in the time and effort to be good at something and it’s your choice. Knitting in the modern world is an optional pastime for most people. But if you do want to knit or be good at anything else, please don’t trip yourself by assuming that lack of immediate success dooms you to failure. It doesn’t.
Hang in there!
The Answer Lady