As one of my favorite author, Malcolm Gladwell, I enjoyed reading The Talent Myth. We live in a society that puts a lot of emphasize in GPA, degrees and legacies. He makes a very important point in terms of high achieving students being unable to perform as would be expected based on an extraordinary GPAs. American school teach us in a very independent manner. We aren’t taught to work together, group work is usually not implemented during the elementary school years, where an impact would be most notable, and when group work is implemented, we do not teach how to delegate and really work together. Typically we find students who carry most of the weight and others who don’t care to contribute, for whatever the case may be. Rather American school teach us to strive for an ultimate goal of obtaining a degree, obtaining a grade, but not necessarily to enjoy and really take from the learning. That aspect is subjective to each individual.

A negative that comes from this tendency to hire and promote those who have a notable degree or legacy, is that those who do not have the networks or a degree or graduated from a notable institution, we are left back. It makes you realize that we are not created equal, and obstacles in getting ahead will be more prominent for us.

It was refreshing to see reflected in the paper what we often see in organizations. His mention of the essay “The Dark Side of Charisma” and the brief description of the three types took me back to identifying certain characters I have worked and work with. It outlines what managers many times fall for, those characteristics that just make you question how person Y and Z have made it so far without someone calling them out.