I'm a big believer in the fact that you have to hear the right lesson in the right way from the right source. This piece might not resonate with everyone, but it really spoke to me. I needed to hear it.
How to do things if you're not that smart and don't have any talent
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Re: How to do things if you're not that smart and don't have any talent
#12This is really interesting but I disagree that this advice only applies to the "not smart" folks and likely applies to everyone, I like to think everyone is smart in their own domain until they are not the only smart person in the room.
If you ask a smart person do the grunt work for their own work, they will be scared,a little clueless and might feel its unnecessary too but someone smarter than them asks them to do all this for them. The then smart person now thinks that they could help the smarter person achieve something they themselves cannot, extending their own intellect which will help them become a little smarter.
I think the range of being smart of most people is very wide, extending all the time.
Re: How to do things if you're not that smart and don't have any talent
#13This is good advice, but I think it is for people who think they are not smart, but are actually just inexperienced. I feel like someone who was actually not smart would have trouble executing on these steps
A group I've encountered that this could help are those without tenacity. I have smart friends who are hugely into tech who somehow remained unemployable even during the boom times in that industry.
I try and try to push them towards opportunities but they argue 'I just have no natural talent for that' and stop before they even get started.
Eg. they tried programming for 3 days, still hadn't fully groked it (because no one does in that amount of time!) and gave up with the above line. Somewhat frustrating to deal with as a friend and also clear cut in what's holding them back as an outside observer: they simply aren't aggressively fighting internal and external demons that tell them they aren't good enough for something. The mere suggestion that you can't possibly do something should fill you with burning determination and it's a positive emotion to feel in that scenario but they seem to just roll over.
Re: How to do things if you're not that smart and don't have any talent
#14From my experience in the tech industry I can say with utmost confidence that "not smart"/"talentless" people who are determined and hard-working lead to significantly better real world results than geniuses who are lazy, unmotivated or overall not action oriented. The vast majority of problems at any company are easy and don't need any big technological breakthroughs to solve. They are instead held back by (1) lack of effort or (2) lack of organization. If you can manage either (or preferably both) you will have a good career in the industry.
Re: How to do things if you're not that smart and don't have any talent
#15I think the writer just suffers a huge case of imposter syndrome! Most seemingly 'smart' and 'talented' people are just people who know that 'Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard'
Re: How to do things if you're not that smart and don't have any talent
#16From my experience in the tech industry I can say with utmost confidence that "not smart"/"talentless" people who are determined and hard-working lead to significantly better real world results than geniuses who are lazy, unmotivated or overall not action oriented. The vast majority of problems at any company are easy and don't need any big technological breakthroughs to solve. They are instead held back by (1) lack…
> (1) lack of effort or (2) lack of organization.
(3) lack of reward
I say the former 2 is caused by 3. Why would anyone put in over-time to solve a problem, if they dont know how well they'd get rewarded by it?
It's why small/founder owned startups get more done with less, because they know themselves how much reward they'd get when putting in the hard yards.
Re: How to do things if you're not that smart and don't have any talent
#17Definitely one of the best headlines ever.
I'm reminded of the hero in Idiocracy who claimed, "Whenever someone said 'lead, follow, or get out of way', I got out of the way."
Re: How to do things if you're not that smart and don't have any talent
#18I'd add only one thing:
Be the person that solves problems. Employers want people that can solve their problems. they may not even care how it gets solved... as long as they problem they have will get solved so they can move forward. Often this takes talent and skill, but in my live I've found that sheer bloody minded persistence and doing things the hard way will often be exactly what is needed and appreciated.
Re: How to do things if you're not that smart and don't have any talent
#19From my experience in the tech industry I can say with utmost confidence that "not smart"/"talentless" people who are determined and hard-working lead to significantly better real world results than geniuses who are lazy, unmotivated or overall not action oriented. The vast majority of problems at any company are easy and don't need any big technological breakthroughs to solve. They are instead held back by (1) lack…
Sure but just because someone is smart doesn't mean they don't work hard. And a smarter person can achieve what a stupid person can with less effort. This is just reality.
I mean it's akin to saying a car can drive faster then a plane if the plane doesn't accelerate. Of course. I think as stupid person I can find certain niches and excel in areas where smart people typically don't attempt to try, but reality is reality and we have to face it.
Re: How to do things if you're not that smart and don't have any talent
#20From my experience in the tech industry I can say with utmost confidence that "not smart"/"talentless" people who are determined and hard-working lead to significantly better real world results than geniuses who are lazy, unmotivated or overall not action oriented. The vast majority of problems at any company are easy and don't need any big technological breakthroughs to solve. They are instead held back by (1) lack…
This mirrors my experience as well, and would only change 1) to 1) a lack of directed effort, and add 3) lack of people skills.