Re: [SAGE] Computer Sciences degrees in IT

[Brad Knowles <brad@shub-internet.org>]

At 11:16 PM -0400 3/25/07, Jon 'maddog' Hall wrote:

>  So Greg sprang from the womb knowing how to run Sendmail?  Impressive.

In terms of the things that Greg naturally did that never even 
occurred to Eric, yes -- that was my impression.

I'm sure they both learned a great deal about how to run a company 
along the way.  However, because of his natural business talents, 
Greg was a much better person to be the President and CEO than Eric 
would have been, and that this was a gap that no amount of skill or 
knowledge learned over time would give Eric an adequate advantage 
over Greg -- in that role.

>  Sorry Brad, you are welcome to hold that thought, and while I agree that
>  "talent" might give an edge in some areas, I still think that education,
>  intelligence, practice and drive are much, much more.

You should talk to Eric and get the story straight from him.  I am 
only able to give you my impression of what it was that Eric was 
trying to tell me.


Drive, Talent, Skills/knowledge -- these are all important factors to success.

Of these, Drive is probably the most important.  With enough Drive, 
you can compensate for a lack of Talent, and replace that with Skills 
& knowledge -- with practice over time.

With Talent, you don't need Skills & knowledge (or you don't need 
nearly so much), in order to function at a given level of 
performance.  Someone without Talent in that field (or with lesser 
Talent) will only be capable of performing at that same level of 
performance by having greater Skills & knowledge that they have 
acquired over time, perhaps as a result of having greater Drive.

But Skills & knowledge can be learned by just about anyone, and are 
the easiest to replace -- or find in someone else.


Of course, the ideal combination is all three, but Drive + Talent 
will pretty much always beat Drive + Skills.  And Talent + Skills 
doesn't really get you anywhere, because you don't have the Drive to 
get up off your butt to do anything.

IMO, Intelligence is a type of Talent.  There are other types of 
Talent that do not include Intelligence, however.

-- 
Brad Knowles <brad@shub-internet.org>, Consultant & Author
LinkedIn Profile: <http://tinyurl.com/y8kpxu>
Slides from Invited Talks: <http://tinyurl.com/tj6q4>