Talent Is Just the Slope
Inspired by on Lenny's Podcast
Your kid might learn piano slower than their friend. Doesn't mean they can't learn piano.
Dharmesh Shah reframes the whole talent conversation: "Talent basically controls the slope of the curve, but most things are actually acquirable skills... If you have a talent for music, you might learn music faster than someone else and your ceiling may be higher, but does not mean that other people can't learn music."
This changes everything about how you encourage your kid.
They're struggling with reading while their classmate breezes through? The classmate has a steeper slope. Your kid can still learn to read - they're just on a different curve. Math comes slowly? Swimming takes longer to click? Making friends feels harder? Different slope. Not inability.
"Anyone can learn just about anything," Dharmesh says. "It just comes down to practice and measurement and just getting incrementally better over time."
The comparison game is pointless because everyone's slopes are different. Your job isn't to make their slope steeper - it's to help them keep climbing their own curve.
PM Theme: Skill development and learning
Parenting Theme: Understanding learning differences
“Talent basically controls the slope of the curve, but most things are actually acquirable skills. So for instance, if you have a talent for music, let's say, you might learn music faster than someone else and your ceiling may be higher, but does not mean that other people can't learn music.”Dharmesh Shah · 00:07:33
“Anyone can learn just about anything. It just comes down to practice and measurement and just getting incrementally better over time.”Dharmesh Shah · 00:11:29
