{"id":1371,"date":"2010-03-19T15:58:52","date_gmt":"2010-03-19T15:58:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localenterprise.wordpress.com\/?p=1036"},"modified":"2010-03-19T15:58:52","modified_gmt":"2010-03-19T15:58:52","slug":"craft-motivation-and-wasted-talent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/2010\/03\/19\/craft-motivation-and-wasted-talent\/","title":{"rendered":"Craft, Motivation and Wasted Talent"},"content":{"rendered":"

Richard Sennett’s ‘The Craftsman<\/a>‘ is well worth the considerable effort it has taken me to read it. \u00a0Although very well written many of the ideas it tackles are not easy!<\/p>\n

He makes the point that we have used tests of intelligence and education to smear citizens along a bell-shaped curve of distribution that is in fact very flat and very wide. \u00a0As a result we have come to\u00a0believe\u00a0that ‘ability’ is not anywhere near uniformly spread through society. \u00a0And this\u00a0belief\u00a0has been used to justify the increased public investment in the education of the most able and the relative paucity of opportunity offered to those who, in the tests, appear to be ‘less able than average’.<\/p>\n

Sennett then argues that this is a social construction with little basis in facts, outside of educational IQ tests such as the Stanford Binet<\/a>. \u00a0These tests rely on questions to which there is an answer – either right or wrong. \u00a0They cannot deal with questions where the answer is a matter of opinion or insight. \u00a0Where the answer is contestable. \u00a0This especially, argues Sennett, serves to\u00a0discriminate\u00a0against those whose talents might lie in developing real craft skills. \u00a0Sennet is at great pains to point out that these are not just about traditional crafts but anything where learning happens over a long period of application through experience, reflection and adjustment. \u00a0 This includes many roles that are incredibly relevant in modern society. \u00a0People who are capable of this craft type learning may do poorly on the Stanford Binet and its equivalents (SATS) and from that point on they are\u00a0socialised\u00a0as ‘low ability’. \u00a0Or those that thrive on the assessment regime they are socialised as ‘Gifted and Talented’. \u00a0It is hard to know which is more damaging!<\/p>\n

This socialisation has little to do with true potential or inherent capability and more to do with what we choose as a society to recognise, label and invest in.<\/p>\n

Sennett’s argument (again assuming that yours truly has understood it) is that capability is MUCH more evenly distributed – we just might need to search for it with a much more open and creative mind. \u00a0Many more of us are capable of doing ‘good work’. \u00a0This insight would have enormous implications for how we\u00a0organise\u00a0education. \u00a0Sennett says;<\/p>\n

“Motivation is a more important issue than talent in consummating craftsmanship”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Socialisation serves to disconnect many of us from our talents as they are neither recognised not valued. \u00a0The capabilities remain, but our motivation is eroded. \u00a0Re-establishing motivation then becomes more important than extant talent. \u00a0Indeed the key motivation required to renew the search for potential and to enter into a period of ‘craft type’ learning action, reflection and adjustment, often over a period of years until the capability becomes a craft.<\/p>\n

Another leading academic Nobel prize wining Amartya Sen also talks about capability<\/a>, its recognition and development as a\u00a0central\u00a0tool in poverty reduction. \u00a0He also recognises the structural processes that serve to justify the enormous gaps between the haves and the have nots on a global scale.<\/p>\n

Perhaps one of the vital roles of the enterprise coach is to help people to challenge the way that society has shaped them and to renew the search for ‘capability’ – the\u00a0potential\u00a0of those who use our services that has often been suppressed by societies warped, distorted and narrow perceptions of ability.<\/p>\n

This is the Craft of the Enterprise Coach. \u00a0And it may have nothing to do with starting a business.<\/p>\n