Talent

If you, yourself, find it easier than others to solve certain tasks or problems, then this is usually noticed in the social context, particularly under competitive conditions (games, school, university, organisation). If this happens regularly and predictably, this is called talent. For individuals, this expectation becomes a particularly important orientation regarding the choice of a job or career. The concept behind it is this: when someone is good at something, he also wants to do it and it satisfies him. You could say that talent becomes, to a certain extent, a duty or an obligation. Psychologically, this is questionable. People can be in love with activities for which they have absolutely no talent. The love, then, does not lie in the result or the efficiency of the deed, but rather in the action, the process, itself. And people can hate and avoid things which they are able to do well. With children, talent is often exploited by the parents (“Now sit down to the piano, you are so good at it!”) and narcistically abused (“See what my son can do!”). In this way, the internal development of talent and external coercion act together and demotivate deeply.

When making personnel decisions in organisations, this is of high significance. Talents identified in employees threaten to become misdirected in occupations, if it is assumed that someone is going to be motivated and good at something, just because they have the opportunity to apply their talent. This is frequently the case, but not as frequently as one might assume.