And? Talentism

It seems that half of my readers (and that would be Heather) have noticed that I am no longer calling my blog “And Talentism.” In one swell foop I moved from the top to the bottom of most people’s bloglines lists. Why make such a critical marketing mistake, where I could lose 50% of my traffic (and that would be the other guy who keeps trying to leave trackback pings that are making not-so-subtle references to ways I can increase parts of my anatomy)? Well, here’s why…

I originally called it “And Talentism” because I was trying to get across two ideas:

And is Powerful

The most powerful word in the English language is “And.” It is the start of all innovation and dialogue. Break down any invention and you will find the word “And” in there. And because I think there is no way to move backwards to the future, I think “and” may just be the only word that can save us from the general mess we seem to be making of things.

From Capitalism to Talentism

There is an economic shift away from consumerism (which celebrates the ability to spend other people’s money on things we don’t need, but which make us feel oh-so-good) and towards celebrating the means of production – namely talent. Capitalism was a move away from control of land and goods to the exchange of capital. And that was a very, very good thing. Lots of crazy-looking white men with long beards and German superiority complexes told us that it was wrong in the 1800’s, but thankfully for us the money-grubbing bourgeois held on to their needless wealth long enough for us to progress to the point where we can actually contemplate putting the provider of talent in control of their own means of production. This is “Talentism”, because the major economic component of the system (and by economic I mean a system of exchange of value) is talent, not capital. Sure, money will still be there. Else what will I give my kids when they are whining and I am tried? But the capital that is exchanged will just be part of a broader context where networks and information become as valuable as capital in systems of exchange. As talent (rather than raw materials, capital, equipment, land or even information) becomes viewed as an even more important factor in market success, businesses will look for it, cherish it, invest in it, beg for it, do silly things for it… all in the name of their own continued existence. Talentism. It won’t be about control, it won’t be about location, and it won’t be about health benefits. It will be about incredibly efficiency markets for the exchange of creative abilities.

What is Talent?

The ability to create and deliver value. Its that simple. But Talentism is not talking about the “Knowledge Worker” of Drucker lore. The knowledge worker creates value through the productive use of knowledge (rather than capital, land, labor or natural resources). Talentism takes that to the next level and depends on the creative capacity of an individual. The creative worker creates values through the production of knowledge, education and entertainment. Knowledge workers take other people’s thoughts and apply them. That will still be valuable, but a lot less valuable than being able to create stuff that knowledge workers use.

But back to And….you can’t create that future without the word “And.” Like “Economic success AND personal fulfillment” or “Less Filling AND Great Taste.”

So why remove the And? Because trying to get everyone to understand the concept of Talentism is hard enough. "And Talentism" sounds like I am grammatically dysfunctional, or in the middle of a deep thought that gets interrupted by a commercial. But if I get over 50% of my audience saying they like the “And” maybe I’ll just put it back. (Got that Heather?)

Comments

[Heather]

Ahhh, got it! Feel free to call me #1 reader rather than 50% of your audience ; ) Maybe this as your blog title: Talentism "and"...

So maybe it was really coming between you and your fans then, huh?

[Canadian Headhunter]

Who's the other reader? Jason? It ain't me. But I do have to congratulate you on the name change. And Talentism sucked. Big time. It not only means nothing it was very difficult to say. I didn't tell you how awful it was when you were using it but now that I can be a nice guy and congratulate you for dumping it, I will.

As for returning to the top of the blogrolls, why not Anthro-Talentism. That should get you there. And, hey, anyway, everyone seems to know Heather and she's not at the top of the blogroll is she? Of course, she works for Microsoft but that's anotber story.

[Dave Lefkow]

"And" now we officially have a quorum - I say drop the And!

[Gil]

I like the name And Talentism! Granted, at first it seemed odd, but it grew on me.

I vote to change it back.