Busting the Myth about Greatness
By: Oq, Omer Qadri
Tags: Coaching, Startup, Education, Success, Entrepreneurship

Tales of the tape refer to the physical measurements used to identify the gifted ones in boxing. These include measurements such as the boxer’s reach, fist-size, weight, height, chest expansion, etc. Sonny Liston was gifted. He was perfect with the physical measurements. He embodied everything a boxing coach and a champion desires. He was considered a genius and became the world heavyweight champion in 1962. According to experts, he was destined for greatness.

As a coach and educator, I’ve come across many students, working professionals and parents who wish that they or their children were naturals in their field like Liston was in boxing. I have commonly heard them say: “I wish I was smart like Steve Jobs”, “I like art but I am no Picasso” or “She is just your average girl, she can’t be J.K. Rowling”.

Sonny Liston

Unfortunately, most people mythologize and idolize the cult of the genius or in other words: natural talent. They believe that intelligence and skills are fixed: meaning, you are either born smart and talented or you are not destined for success and greatness.

Science has repeatedly told us that greatness is not achieved overnight but is, in fact, a culmination of small actions done consistently for a long period of time. Sociologist Dan Chambliss puts it the best: “Superlative performance is really a confluence of dozen of small skills or activities, each one learned or stumbled upon, which have been carefully drilled into habit and then are fitted together in a synthesized whole. There is nothing extraordinary or superhuman in any one of those small actions; only the fact that they are done consistently to produce excellence”.

Then why do most of us fantasize about “natural talent”?

When we are unable to rationally explain how someone achieved incredible success or did something extraordinary, the mind, just like an electric current, chooses the path of least resistance and concludes: “They are naturally gifted”. German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, provides an explanation saying: “With everything perfect, we do not ask how it came to be. Instead, we rejoice in the fact as if it came out of magic”.

We like to believe that Steve Jobs was born to become a smart tech entrepreneur. We like to believe that Picasso was born to paint. We don’t like to study or observe their journey from an amateur level to an expert level.

Why is this so?

It is because we prefer novelty, magic and mystery over rational mundanity. And in the world of storytelling, mundanity and discipline are a difficult sell as they don’t dazzle us. Mystery and magic, on the other hand, are attractive and inspiring.

Nietzsche explains: “Our vanity and self-love promotes the cult of the genius. For if we think of genius as something magical, we are not obliged to compare ourselves and find ourselves lacking…to call someone ‘natural’ or ‘gifted’ means: ‘here there is no need to compete’”.

This means we attribute achievement to ‘natural talent’ not just because it makes the story more compelling but also because it lets us off the hook. It allows us to feel content with our mediocrity and relax into the status quo.

So what about talent then?

Renowned psychologists, philosophers and educators advise us to not talk about innate abilities and giftedness because the majority of the great entrepreneurs, artists and athletes were very little gifted. Instead, they worked hard to acquire greatness in their field. Our messaging for the students, youth and next-generation should pivot from talent to effort if we want them to achieve greatness in a particular field.

Famous psychologist, Dr. Angela Duckworth, in fact, has an equation for greatness and achievement:

Skill = Talent x Effort

Achievement or Greatness = Skill x Effort

An epic battle for Greatness: Effort (Hard Work) vs Natural Talent

This means that with the little innate talent you can become skillful by putting in some effort. And if you double-down the effort, you can transform yourself from someone who is skillful to someone who is great.

In 1964, Sonny Liston fought against an underdog, Cassius, who was not rated at all. He was not a natural like Liston. He failed all the measurements, he didn’t have the same strength as other boxers. In fact, he boxed all wrong. According to the experts: “Cassius fights like someone in the middle of a train track trying to avoid being hit by a train, not by moving to one side of the track or other, but by running backwards”. Liston was a 7–1 clear favourite to win and the matchup was so ridiculous that the arena was only half-full.

What experts didn’t know was while Cassius was not the textbook, conventional boxer, his mental strength, stamina and intelligence made up for the lack of physical attributes. He was more brains than brawn. Cassius doubled-down on the effort. He spent months scientifically studying Liston’s moves, fighting style, personality and how his mind worked. His strategy was to toy with Liston’s mind by appearing crazy and making him believe that Cassius could never win. He shifted Liston’s eyes and attention to his mouth. So much that when the knockout punch came, Liston literally didn’t see it coming and lost the fight.

Cassius later wrote: Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee, your hands can’t hit, what your eyes can’t see. He changed his name a few years later and was more popularly known as Muhammad Ali.