The deception of talent and genius

"You have such a talent!"    
"Wow!  You must be so smart to be in engineering/physics/math!"

How often in our society do we hear and/or say these same phrases?  These phrases seem like such harmless compliments, don't they?  I mean, what else do you say to someone to point out how special they are?  Heck, maybe they're even true.  I don't know.  But I think these phrases belie a fatal assumption our society feeds us (in the US, at least) and I think this assumption can severely undermine an individual's capabilities.

I occasionally get students that only come to one lesson and never returns. Why?  Because they show up to know one thing: Are they talented enough to be a star?  Usually, they have aspirations to go on some talent-based TV show to become famous, and they just want to know if they're good enough to do that.  My usual tactic with this student is to emphasize how much work it takes to really be a polished professional vs. an amateur in any singing genre. I state that the difference between a profession and an amateur is that the professional will sound consistently good no matter if their tired or their throat is dry, etc.  Professionals don't have to make excuses about why their high notes aren't there today because their high notes are always there, unless they have strep throat or laryngitis or something. And in those cases, a professional often knows when to cancel (even though they often go on when they feel they shouldn't, but that is another topic for another day.)  Professionals spend years training and practicing their technique so that they are able to do the expect job day in and day out. For the student only seeking fame, I'll end up saying they have a lot of potential to be an exceptional singer and that I would love to help them become outstanding if they're ready to work for it.  Of course I'm not surprised they don't come back. They didn't come to me wanting to hear about how much work they need to put into their singing--they came to me for a gold sticker that says they're a star and I don't give out stickers. Period. They'll need to find another teacher if they just want their ego fed.

And that's the inherent issue with this "talent" culture, it undermines the training, focusing on the innate talent of the individual in lieu of the amount of work spent honing technique and artistry. In theatrical fields, the "gift" that audience members are in awe of often came from years of work and financial investment for all the professionals out there. (Granted, there are always a handful of singers who happen to fall into the career without a lot of training needed, but they are, on the whole, an incredible rarity. And those who fall into it and also attain career longevity are even more rare. So no beginner should ever bank on being one of those people.)

This "talent" attitude is also present in intellectual fields, where the world "talent" is often replaced with "genius" or "smart." I can't count how many times people have said to me, "your husband must be so smart!" when I tell them what math-intensive, STEM field he's working in. Granted, I think he's pretty darn smart, but he always tells me how annoying it is when he hears someone say that because he feels he just had to work really hard to attain the necessary knowledge for his field. I was once a math tutor for a local community college. How often did I hear students say I "just get math" because I was smarter than them? It seems like, as a society, we have this gauge for how smart a person is, and it is usually related to the subject matter they are studying.  When I was in music, I very rarely heard anyone call me smart. In that world, I was either talented or not. Now that I'm in an applied-science field, I hear a lot of talk about how smart a person is verses how well they're doing in class.  It seems like to most people, intelligence is just another form of talent. But I don't agree--it's the work ethic and motivation to improve that makes the real difference.

Thus, we often find ourselves saying things like, "I would love to seek that career, but I would need such-and-such degree, and I could never do that.  I'm not smart enough." Or "I know I need to work on my acting, but that's just not my talent. My voice is what I work on; singing is where my talent lies." See where I'm going with this?  How toxic is this attitude?  How are we okay with just limiting ourselves or giving excuses for ignoring a vital part of our craft just cause we find it hard?

A better way to look at things, in my opinion, is to consider the amount of time and effort needed to become good at the thing you are interested in and/or need for your profession. I could've been a physicist or an electrical engineer. I have the intellectual capability to do those fields, but I don't have a desire to spend 4+ years of study on them. That undergrad voice major in your music school who's just not as "talented" as you might just happen to develop a work ethic that carries them into the highest opera houses or the biggest hits on Broadway.

When people focus on the amount of work, time, and planning that go into reaching a certain level of success in a challenging field, they often find there is very little they can't accomplish. So next time you hear about the "instant" success of that amazing new performer or meet a "genius" mathematician, just take one moment on consider the focus and effort this person put into their field and complement them on that--and maybe congratulate them on finding a true passion in life that makes all that work worth it.