Talent is Overrated

So over my snowboarding endeavors and GPS running workouts at Christmas, I also managed to fit in some enjoyable reading.  The book I’m referring to is entitled “Talent is Overrated” by Geoff Colvin.

As its namesake suggests, talent is not the answer to great performance it is the learned skill accumulated over time and not a genetic gift endowed on man.

In Chapter 3, Colvin eludes to the fact that the ability to remember things is created; not gifted.  He cites an experiment with both master chess players and non players.  When chess pieces are set up on the board that mimic real game maneuvers, the master chess players outdid their non chess counterparts in memory recall.  When chess pieces are set up randomly on the game board, both groups were about equal in recall.  

We all have the same capacity to remember.  Exceptional performance is not a special capacity for more memory but an ability to put the information into a context.  The reason why master chess players did better on the first go around is because of familiarity. 

The official name for this is chunking.  Chunking is the key to expanded memory.  The more familiar you are with a subject the better you can use chunking to increase your capacity to handle new information.  Practice and the usage of existing information in long-term memory can lead to additional improvements in one's ability to use chunking. In one testing session, an American cross-country runner was able to recall a string of 79 digits after hearing them only once by chunking them into different running times (e.g. the first four numbers were 1518, a three-mile time.) wikipedia

How does that help us average Joes?  The more familiar you are with a subject, the better you can use “chunking” to increase your capacity to handle new information.

Bottom line…practice and the usage of existing information in long-term memory can lead to additional improvements in one’s ability to use chunking…have you chunked yet today?