Focus is the new talent
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Ask any classic villain. Good help is hard to find. Even my daughter has seen enough movies to know that most minions are... not exactly very good.
But you don’t have to be a “bad guy” to need good people. Software is eating the world and that’s very evident in the technology industry. We are literally always looking for talented people.
I read something thought provoking yesterday though. It prompted me to pose a question to the WhatsApp group of our department’s brain trust.
What is more scarce: Talent or focus?
Only one of our 20 leaders replied with an answer. It didn’t really surprise me. Ironically, they were probably too busy to think about it. It appears talent and focus are both in short supply.
A colleague of mine took leave last Friday in order to get some important work done. Yes. You read that correctly. This is the canary in the coal mine.
I worry that we’re missing a trick. We put tons of energy into winning the talent war and then wave the white flag when it comes to focus.
If we need to take leave from our work in order to do our work, then there is something very wrong with the way we work. We’ve taken leave of our collective senses.
Perhaps it’s not a choice between talent and focus. Perhaps focus is the new talent.
I read something thought provoking yesterday though. It prompted me to pose a question to the WhatsApp group of our department’s brain trust.
What is more scarce: Talent or focus?
Only one of our 20 leaders replied with an answer. It didn’t really surprise me. Ironically, they were probably too busy to think about it. It appears talent and focus are both in short supply.
A colleague of mine took leave last Friday in order to get some important work done. Yes. You read that correctly. This is the canary in the coal mine.
I worry that we’re missing a trick. We put tons of energy into winning the talent war and then wave the white flag when it comes to focus.
If we need to take leave from our work in order to do our work, then there is something very wrong with the way we work. We’ve taken leave of our collective senses.
Perhaps it’s not a choice between talent and focus. Perhaps focus is the new talent.