The true measure of potential is not the height of the peak you’ve reached. It’s how far you climbed to get there. – Adam Grant
Nature or nurture? Made or born? Power of will or product of environment? At some time, we all wrestle with the concepts around why some people succeed and others do not. While most of us would absolutely agree that it is not as simple as one or the other, many of us still fall into the trap of talent obsession.
In his newest book, Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things, Adam Grant challenges readers to consider the distance we can travel and the range of possible achievements when we raise our aspirations and focus on the journey. This isn’t a matter of denying the role talent plays, but rather focusing on the variables we control. Grant divides his focus in the work into three areas: character, motivation, and the systems of opportunity.
The first two are areas that we can focus on in our personal lives. We can develop our moral character throughout our lives through reading, and learning, and social engagement. We can also help shape those areas for our children and those we are responsible for. The third section of Grant’s book, systems of opportunity, challenges all of us to look at reshaping institutions and institutional practices to provide additional opportunities for others. Many of our current practices are, by default, exclusionary. In many cases, we are not looking to see how someone can be included but instead are looking for reasons to exclude them. If we take Grant seriously, we may find some amazing people we’ve been missing along the way.
Is it time to consider what your future might look like if you dug down deep and looked for the potential you may have been missing all along?
Prior patterns don’t have to dictate future decisions. Who you’ve been should not limit who you become. – Adam Grant