It was 4.30 on a cold and wet morning and I was choking on the
stench of thick layers of years old grease behind the deep fat
fryer and I was ecstatically happy as I scrubbed and cleaned the
once white tiles back to their original gleaming brightness.
It was my first day on my first proper job and I would soon be
delegating this filthy work to some other poor sap who similarly
wanted to become a chef de cuisine. In the meantime, my job was to
scrub, peel, haul, carry, chop, clear and clean it all up
again.
The head cook (for in the mid 1970's we had few "Chef's" as that
was far too French and suggestive of "haute cuisine") had agreed to
take me under her wing and teach me how to prepare the only famous
dish to come from England and clogged the arteries of its working
classes: The Great British Breakfast.
Putting talent in perspective

Talent is often misunderstood. Business
leaders are obsessed with finding it, keeping it and banking their
succession on it. They recruit the top students from the best
universities, promote them quickly, reward them lavishly and label
them as talent.

Talent is often misunderstood. Business leaders are obsessed
with finding it, keeping it and banking their succession on it.
They recruit the top students from the best universities, promote
them quickly, reward them lavishly and label them as talent. Then
there is surprise at the realisation that:
More than half the CEO's of Fortune 500 companies averaged a C
or C-
And more than 50% of the world's millionaire entrepreneurs
never finished college
Let me clarify, I am not anti-talent. I believe that we should
seek our talent and we should put it to work. But talent alone, is
not the answer to leadership succession, productivity and a growing
economy.
Everyone has talent
I was 15 years old as I crouched behind that deep fat fryer and
about to discover my talent but first I had to serve my time and
observe Mrs Brown at her work as closely as possible whilst
simultaneously keeping out of the way of her sharp knives and even
sharper tongue.
Once allowed, I soon mastered the fry-up served with tea and
slices of Hovis with thick butter. I was cocky with my demonstrated
obvious talent, but was soon cut by Mrs Brown's sharp tongue as she
remarked:

"Anyone can cook. It's just that not everyone should."

Her simple wisdom is true in all walks of life: Today, watch any
"talent" show on TV and you'll find plenty of contestants who would
do well to follow Mrs Brown's advice in their own dream pursuit.
Anyone can sing, but not everyone should.
So how do you know if you should?
It's not simply a case of doing something, it's doing something
exceptionally well and enjoying doing it. That's an "and" not an
"or". I knew that I thoroughly enjoyed cooking but it takes others
to tell you if you do it exceptionally well. When you find out what
that is, then you've found your talent. And everyone has something
that they do exceptionally well and thoroughly enjoying doing.
Develop the talent you have, not the one you want
When I ask if you know what your talent is, you may struggle to
identify it. You may not be an exceptional musician or artist,
actor or even a sports person. These are the types of things we
traditionally associate with the word "talent". You may think I'm
referring to your job. It could be and I hope that your job does
enable you to use your talent, but the chances are that you are
unsure, and probably too humble to realise that you really do have
talent. But I can assure you that you do.
The 10,000 hour rule

The 10000-hour rule is the idea that we
have to deliberately practice any activity for at least 10000 hours
before we are great at it

Malcolm Gladwell based his 10000 hour rule in his book Outliers
on a study by Anders Ericson that it takes 10000 hours of
deliberate practice to become great at something. Such 'greatness'
is often confused with the "talent" that enables it. For your
talent is rarely manifest as something great, usually, your t