I just watched an interesting video clip of Malcolm Gladwell talking about ideas from his new book Outlier, which is due out next week. He was discussing the principle of capitalization, which deals with how effectively people reach their potential, or leverage their personal capital. And the conclusion is, not surprisingly, that effort and persistence play the pivotal role. And further, what we achieve and accomplish has a lot more to do with our capitalization (effort and persistence) than our capital (innate talents).
Most of us will nod our heads at that, but deep down not really believe it. Gladwell gives the example of Kenyan distance runners, which have dominated the sport for decades. Are they genetically inclined? Maybe. But Gladwell relates that in Kenya, with a population of about 35 million, over one million boys between 12-17 years old run 10-12 miles each day. That's capitalization.
In his book, Gladwell references the work of intelligence scientist James Flynn, who once studied why Chinese immigrants to the U.S. perform much higher than their white counterparts. Flynn determined that although the IQ's of the two groups were similar, the Chinese tended to achieve professionally at a level equivalent to 20 points higher on the IQ scale.
Talent only gets you so far. Then persistence, desire and work ethic take over on the path to success. I'm reminded of a few favorite quotes:
"Most people don't recognize opportunity because it's dressed in overalls and looks like work."
--Thomas Edison
The heights of great men reached and kept
Were not attained by sudden flight,
But they, while their companions slept,
Were toiling upward in the night.
--Longfellow
