Natural qualities
Your talents are your natural qualities that give you an edge over others.
Each of us has natural qualities. These are qualities that you have not had to learn.
You can compare this to the natural qualities of different types of wood.
- Oak is naturally very hard and strong.
- Ash, on the other hand, is naturally light and resilient.
You can make a beam out of ash. But is that a good idea?
You can make an oak axe handle. But is that really a good idea?
Oak’s natural qualities make it a hard and strong wood. But if you start chopping with an oak axe you’ll notice that after a while your wrist starts to hurt. After all, the hard oak handle does not absorb the shocks of chopping. And if you start chopping very hard with an oak axe, the handle will break because it doesn’t bend with you.
That’s why we make ash axe handles and oak beams. Because we use the natural qualities of different types of wood for the tasks that suit them.
” Why don’t we do the same with people? Why don’t we use people’s natural qualities (talents) for the activities that fit their qualities? “
The answer is simple. Because companies are stuck in competency thinking. They look at the ready-made, immediately deployable skills of the (new) employee. They look for axe handles and beams, looking only at superficial characteristics i.e. What is your degree? What is your experience?
But when the ash beam collapses under a heavy load and the oak axe handle breaks when chopping hard then far too few ask the question “Have we hired the person who is cut from the right wood?”.
With The Talentpassport, we help organizations match people’s WORKING talents in a quick and accurate way. Discovering and recognizing talents is the first step in the right direction to make work sustainable and meaningful.