One of the things that always comes up in any discussion of progress in Leeds is that of talent. Several problem areas repeatedly crop up:
- We don’t do enough to find it;
- We don’t do enough to develop it;
- We don’t do enough to retain it;
- We don’t do enough to attract it;
- We waste a whole load of it.
In this online Innovation Lab I hope we can explore the territory a bit and start to develop some concrete ideas about how we make progress on developing Leeds as a city of talent.
So where do we start the conversation?
Talent in Leeds 
Jan 28, 2011 @ 10:19:53
Hey Mike,
Always good to start with some sweeping generalisations…
* For people to be happy ‘their talent’ needs to be ‘utilised and recognised’.
* For companies to be happy talent needs to be ‘surplus to requirement’.
I would question – who is “measuring” and “defining” talent, and what is “the purpose”?
Is it about employability? Is it about knowledge? Is it about creativity or self-enlightenment? Is it about something else?
What independent data + evidence is there to verify/demonstrate a ‘lack of talent’?
Hope this is useful 🙂
Tom
Jan 28, 2011 @ 10:55:24
Thanks Tom
For people to be happy ‘their talent’ needs to be ‘utilised and recognised’. To this I would add that their talent needs to be ‘challenged, stretched and developed.’ And the sad truth is that the majority of managers and performance management systems do not take sufficient account of this. Particularly in SMEs where talent development is not a massive focus.
For companies to be happy talent needs to be ‘surplus to requirement’ – I would agree with this, although again many companies have a philosophy of ‘just enough education to perform’. We will train you to do your job, not to develop your talent and potential. There are good strategic arguments for having more talent than you need both personally and corporately, revolving around flexibility, innovation and capacity to change. Many pay lip service to this. Few actually deliver on it.
Who measures and defines talent? What a great question! And again at least two answers. To an extent talent is in the eye of the beholder. Or the employer. But for many us having a real insight into our talents, and how we want to shape them to help us become the kind of person that we wish to become is an absolutely central challenge, and one that we tackle in Progress School. Too many of us allow outsiders to have to much power over how our talents are defined. Parents, employers, managers, partners all see things in us that they think we should develop. Unless we also really see those things in us, really see how developing them will help us to get the kind of lifestyle we aspire too we can get all too easily blown off track.
I spent four years of my life doing a degree in Biophysics, because I was ‘good’ at it, and there were ‘opportunities’. And although I knew that my real interests lay in education, development and community, I followed the talent that others saw, and allowed myself to be seduced by opportunities that were really not me. The result? I learned a lot of stuff that I still use today – a process of enquiry and an understanding of uncertainty and the limits to ‘knowing’ and ‘science’. But also a degree of confusion over who I was and what I wanted to become. The way that talent links to the ‘emergence of identity‘ have interested me ever since!
So is it about employability? Well yes in part.
Is it about knowledge well, yes in part – Knowledge of ‘self’ and knowledge of subject.
Is it about creativity or self enlightenment? Yes in part.
You ask about data and evidence? Well I am sure it exists. Wherever there is an industry there is ‘evidence’ to support its existence! But ther eis also the lived experience of people that I talk to to who tell me of people leaving for better opportunities to use their talent, of employers who are unable to develop the tlanet that they need and of people who are frustrated that they can’t make the most of their talents.
So without looking for ‘the evidence’ I am happy that there are issues here that merit exploration and discussion. And I am sure that if we asked the Chamber of Commerce, the Regional Development Agency, The Sector Skills Councils and so on we would soon be inundated with data and evidence.
Do I think we lack talent? No.
Do I think that Leeds is better or worse at talent development than anywhere else? I am not sure.
Would it be good to have more ‘talent’ in the city? Yes.
Could we be better at recognising, rewarding and developing talent? Yes.
Could we shepherd fewer people onto courses that deny their interests and passions in the name of opportunity? Yes
So let the search for ideas begin….
Jan 28, 2011 @ 10:29:50
Well it’s started here already, hasn’t it ?
One person expresses an idea out loud (talks, writes, draws, paints, sings, strums).
They make a decision to share it with the world.
If they’re lucky, someone hears it.
The hearers response is critical . . . “shut that noise up”, “sorry I can’t help you but I can refer you to another agency”, “I don’t get it”, “that’s ugly”, “you’re stupid”, “let’s start a new project to help you with this” are not typically helpful . . . Simple things like ” I hear you”, “Wow I feel like that too”. “I get it”, “What works for you” are amazingly helpful 🙂
So here we go, proof in action . . . I hear you, I feel like that too and I get it!
Now what works for me . . . let’s take it too the streets . . . literally !
The power of a movie camera or a microphone and an inquistive person (or group of people) stood on the streets of Leeds, talking about talent . . . . the answers are all out there, just a question of unplugging the dams that we all build up 🙂 . . .. ohhh and that crucial ‘hearing’ thing needs to happen too.
Jan 28, 2011 @ 11:01:32
Brilliant! Love that!
I can supply a Flip Mino or two if that helps get the footage in the can.
Are you volunteering Marie. Or anyone else?
How can I help?
Jan 31, 2011 @ 07:46:25
I think there is lots of talent in Leeds, as there is in other cities, and I think Leeds is relatively more fortunate than some other places in that it is beginning to develop the mechanisms to bring people together and help them exploit their talents.
One of my constant irritations is the amount of times I am expected to go to London to participate in networks, new initiatives, projects that emphasise and exploit talent. And then, when we do something like launch a national initiative, Our Society (http://www.oursociety.org.uk) in Leeds, the reaction is that we are doing something “Northern”. There is a massive obstacle to overcome here, in that the UK is one of the most centralised civilisations in the world, if it doesn’t happen in London, it doesn’t happen at all. Recently, I’ve been involved in meetings in London on a couple of occasions when I was the only person there from outside the south-east, but the discussion proceeded as if it was inclusive of the whole nation. Government, and many national organisations based in London, operate on the basis that everyone who needs to be involved will be available at short notice to attend meetings in the capital, and, if they’re not, then their interests are just parochial.
So, how do we overcome this? Not just to help Leeds exploit its talent, but to stop the talented of any city or town from feeling that heading for London is the only way to get their talents recognised?
Jan 31, 2011 @ 13:33:02
My team is growing on a daily basis Mike 🙂 and yes of course your help will be needed. You are the founding father after all.
I can’t say yay or nay to the flip mino, as I don’t know what one is.
We have a couple of volunteers who are studying creative media at leeds college of technology and park lane, so we are going to try and see if we can involve the colleges/loan equipment.
The head media guy at Park Lane, I’ve forgotten his surname, first name Jan showed a great movie that some of the students did last year. I am looking for his email address to see if I can obtain a copy, as I think it will really help everyone involved, get to grips with the idea behind this.
The one thing I have heard so far, above all others, is that when asked people genuinely struggle to name their talents. I mean to the point of seeming uncomfortable and perhaps here is a crux to the issue ?
I see talents in everyone. But often they are not seen by the individual.
So is this about education and confidence building ?
Is this about the perception of ‘talent’ being knocked out of people by education, work, family, life ? Is it a cultural attitude ?
Do we place the wrong empasise on academic education ? Do we dismiss talent simply because it doesn’t fit the current curriculum ?
Do we need to place more importance on building a persons confidence, belief and balanced analytical skills, rather than academic tuition ?
Indeed if we build confidence at an early age, would that not improve academic achievement and life long fulfilment for all ?
Boy has this promoted some amazingly thought provoking debate ! ! !
Tom/John . . . I will respond to your points soon . . . and if you’d like to be an enabler, drop me a line 🙂
Regards
Marie
Jan 31, 2011 @ 13:37:37
Flip mino is a small digital video camera. Point and shoot.
Talent is always easier to spot in someone else than in ourselves.
Jan 31, 2011 @ 14:12:49
So Mike . . . what’s your talent/s ?
Jan 31, 2011 @ 14:16:11
Good question! Better at starting than finishing! Good with ideas. Good communicator hopefully writing and speaking, at times a good educator. Love helping managers to enjoy, and get good at, managing. Enjoy collaboration and innovation. The pursuit of progress.
Jan 31, 2011 @ 22:20:21
Can I ask the same question to John & Tom please ?