about building competence - yes you can

Yes you can

The first rule of building competences is this one: they CAN be developed.

As we talked about in the chapter 'about', for me you can both use the words competence or talent to express the potential you have to do well in a certain domain. The word talent however, has a connotation of something you are born with. You either have the talent or you don't. The dices have been rolled at birth, and there is nothing or not much you can do about it. Especially when it comes to leadership or arts, born ability rules in our mindset. Well, that is just plain wrong. Yes, it is true that the gene pool can give someone a head start in a certain domain. It might be easier for you to learn a language, or it might be natural for you to sculpt. But that doesn't mean you are the best at it because you had a head start. It's like being dealt with better cards. It doesn't mean you surely will win or loose the game. That will depend on the game context, and how the others are dealt with and how they play their cards. Everyone can learn to get good at something. It takes more or less effort, but competencies CAN be developed.

Likewise, some people are born in a better setting to get good in a domain. If your father and five lines of ancestors above him have been gold smiths, the chances are high you will at least get the opportunity to find out how good you are in that. If you live in a country that provides free and high quality education to all inhabitants, you'll get a better setting to develop your talents than those that don't. Access to proper schooling, a way to apply what we learn and an audience to listen to share our expertise with, influences our competence building abilities as much as our natural born talents.

Competences are what you grow. Born talents and a more facilitating environment towards one or a few domains should be taken into consideration when you decide what you want to get good at. But don't let them be a wall for your aspiration and dreams. As Randy Pausch said it in his famous last lecture (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo): the walls are there for the others, for those who do not want in badly enough.

The first rule of building competences is a belief that they can be made, regardless of what you are born with or where you are born. If you need some convincing, go look up books in the personal development and business section of your local library or book shop. I dare you. Those books and the authors will confirm that competencies can be developed. Take for example the book 'The Speed of Trust' by Stephen Covey (www.speedoftrust.com). He talks about trust and how it costs less and moves faster when you can do business in a context of mutual trust. He also concludes that trust is something you can get good at. Last month I attended a workshop on innovation and creativity. Guess what the key message was: creativity is something you can develop.

Key points: Gene pools and the right context surely influence how easy it will be to build certain competences, but they can be developed. Yes you can!