Talent Is Overrated by Geoff Colvin - Book Report/Review Example

?INTRODUCTION The report is completely based on the practical application of the book. Practical application refers to the application of the concepts presented by Geoff Colvin in his book “Talent is overrated”. The application will have effect in the organization to understand the importance of the concepts and perception of Geoff Colvin. The report will also talk about the practical value of the book. The main theme of the book is that the talent and hard work of a person not individually let him/her on the path of success and prosperity. Most of the time it seems that people are famous because of their natural talent but here one thing is missing in this perception that is a great hard work is associated with their talent. In this book the author clearly defines that the sometimes the talent is overrated by the people, but actually it is not true. Success of a person or an organization is backed by two forces i.e. talent and hard work. The people who employed the combination of these two forces in their lives are actually making the ‘deliberate practice’ of their work. The author considers deliberate practice is the key to success. Deliberate practice refers to the continuous conscious practice to fill the gaps in performance. The result of deliberate practice is success and prosperity. In the last part of report the practical value of the book is also stated to justify the importance of Geoff Colvin’s view (Colvin). APPLICATION TO THE ORGANIZATION Geoff Colvin raised a very important argument for the future researchers of this area. The perception of author throughout the book was developing the ground for understanding the importance of ‘deliberate practice’ in the organization. The concept of ‘Deliberate practice’ when applied to the organizational level it will be identified highly effective in increasing the productivity, effectiveness and efficiency of the organization. The concept of deliberate practice is applicable in two levels i.e. organizational level and individual level. In organizational level it would be applied to all the activities of the organization and on individual level it will be applied to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the employees. It is usually found that the success of any individual is perceived by people as his/her natural talent in that specific area, for e.g. it is very common in the profession of musicians that they have naturally pleasant voice that’s why they have become successful. But the author completely rejected this perception in his book and stated that it’s not a matter of natural talent but actually it’s a result of a great hard work to utilize the talent. Author throughout his book stated that the success is the combination of talent and hard work. The presence of both elements is necessary to achieve a success. In the absence of any one element it could be possible that the person or organization would achieve the success but that success would never stay for a long period of time. The application of the author’s concept can be seen in the case of Apple Inc. Steve jobs was the pioneer of Apple Inc. The success of Apple Inc is the justification of Steve jobs brilliance. He always relies on his own ideas. In the perception of people, Steve jobs had gifted with a natural talent. He is an example of outstanding talent. Steve jobs completely utilized his talent by applying it on his area of interest. A Steve job is well-known for its creative and innovative thinking and his innovative ideas reflects in the Apple products. He successfully runs the organization for a long time but because of some issues regarding his leadership approach he was changed by the board of the company. A Steve job was claimed for his autocratic kind of leadership in a huge organization. Autocratic leadership is defined as when the leader and manger of the company only believes in his ideas and thinking and do not consider any other person or employee in the decision making process of the company (Warrick, 155-172). It can be further elaborated as only one person in the organization has the authority to make decisions. A Steve jobs is criticized for his leadership style throughout his career. The issues came up front that Steve jobs only relies on his ideas and do not consider the ideas of others in the company and it was claimed by his own employees. The autocratic approach of Steve jobs was not beneficial for the entities working in the Apple Inc. Some serious damages were faced by the company because of his autocratic approach. Many highly qualified employees were left the company because they did not have a power of decision making. Now comes to the author conception or idea that an organization should implement the strategy in which employees are considered for both of their attributes i.e. talent and hard work. The consideration of both elements in the practices of employees is necessary for their growth. And according to the Maslow’s need theory, Employee growth is necessary element for his/her satisfaction (The Economist). Steve jobs applied the element of hard work in his company’s strategy and did not consider the talent of his employees. When the talent of qualified employees was ignored by Steve jobs then employees became dissatisfied with his leadership and left the company. Steve jobs wasn’t proved hardworking in developing managerial skills in his leadership style (Sanders Business Consulting). Only his extraordinary talent led him on the road of prosperity but his lack of hard work in the area of management destroyed his leadership and brought him to the unsatisfactory end of his career. Tim cook is a person who replaced Steve jobs and became a CEO of Apple Inc. The character of Tim cook is fit to the author’s view because he follows a charismatic style of leadership. Tim cook believes in delegating the authorities to company’s employees to give them a power of decision making. Tim cook believe is to completely utilize the employee’s talent along with their hard work. His believe has affected positively on the performance of the company (Greenfield). Tim cook worked on both hard work and talent utilization. He worked on the area of managerial expertise and encouraged the talent of his employees along with their hard work (Greenfield). This practice strengthens the presence of Tim cook in the company and proved that his charismatic leadership approach is positive for the company for retaining the employees. The perception of Geoff Colvin has been justified with the leadership style of Tim cook and sets a ground for further exploration on his research findings. IMPACT AND PRACTICAL VALUE OF THE BOOK ‘Talent is overrated’ is one of the best books that I have ever read. It gives me a lesson of understanding the value of talent and hard work in their contexts. The book gives the perception that talent and hard work are the relative terms and their combination develops an effort of ‘deliberate practice’ in the life. Deliberate practice is the practice that brings you close to the perfection. Any practice that has hard work and the utilization of talent will be considered as deliberate practice. Deliberate practice will completely utilize the potential of an individual in every aspect of life. While considering the application of deliberate practice in the organization then it will results in the exceptional learning of the employees. When employees have a deliberate practice then it would be possible for the company to get the competitive edge. Many companies applied deliberate practice in its functions and achieved good outcomes, and when it is applied by the individuals it found successful again. For instance, if a marketing professional apply deliberate practice in his work then he would be able to get his job done with hard work along with application of new ideas in getting his work done. The efforts of deliberate practice can be seen in many successful organizations. The perception of Geoff Colvin has got a great importance when it is implemented at the organizational level. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION The finding of the report supports the perception of Geoff Colvin. The concept of Geoff Colvin has justified with the example of Apple Inc. The report is conducted to discuss about the concept of Geoff Colvin regarding the talent is overrated. The main perception of the author throughout his book was that the talent is not enough to bring the individual on the path of success, it needs to linked up with the hard work to convert the efforts in to deliberate practice and deliberate practice will let the individual on the path of prosperity. The example of Steve jobs is justification of the absence of deliberate practice on his managerial expertise. Tim cook character really defines the concept of author. Two leadership approaches are discussed in the report for developing a clear and understandable frame of the Geoff Colvin concept. Deliberate practice is an affective effort to achieve the goals effectively and efficiently. This book really clarified the perception about the hard work association with talent and gives the idea to combine these significant elements for developing a productive approach of deliberate practice. This book should be considered by the professionals because it will be helpful in increasing their productivity and give them strength to completely utilize their talent by working harder in their activities. Works cited Allen, Frederick. Steve Jobs Broke Every Leadership Rule. Don't Try It Yourself. Forbes, Aug. 2011. 12. Nov. 2013. Colvin, Geoff. "Talent is overrated." New York: Portfolio (2008). Greenfield, Rebecca. Apple CEO Tim Cook's Uninspiring Style Is Pushing Employees Away. The Atlantic Wire, Aug. 2013. 12. Nov. 2013. Sanders Business Consulting. 8 Unforgivable Leadership Mistakes Steve Jobs Made. Feb. 2012. 12. Nov. 2013. The Economist. Abraham Maslow. Oct. 2008. 12. Nov. 2013. Warrick, D. D. "Leadership Styles and Their Consequences." Journal of Experiential Learning and Simulation 3.4 (1981): 155-172 Read More