Talent stacking and life expectancy

Edition #4

Hi there,

Welcome from a snowed under and locked down Amsterdam. To start, a big thanks to all of you who’ve been reading the newsletter, sharing feedback and passing it on. I’m finding tremendous joy in executing this experiment, so thanks for making it possible.

Speaking of feedback, here’s a unique story shared by my friend Andy (one of my “loyal readers”) following the recent insert on WW2 planes:

“My grandfather also flew for the RAF in 2nd world war - also didn’t see action in the Battle of Britain and was based up north in the UK later in the war, I think. A great story he used to tell was when he went to do his driver’s license test in his RAF uniform ... driving instructor looked at him, asked him if he could fly a plane and said well, in that case, you can drive a car and gave him a license.”

Thanks for sharing Andy!

Grab a cup of coffee and enjoy this week’s edition. As always, if a topic doesn’t strike your fancy, skip to the next (only two this week).

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Talent stacking

We are wired to think that success requires mastery of a specific skill (think Mozart). Not only is this almost impossible to achieve, but the economic law of diminishing returns (illustrated below) also tells us that “profits or benefits gained from something will represent a proportionally smaller gain as more money or energy is invested”.

When it comes to skills development, a more effective and realistic approach is that of talent stacking. The idea is simple: be good enough at a number of skills that combined add up to something extraordinary.

I was introduced to this concept by Scott Adams. He was a businessman of moderate success. He was amusing, but not the funniest guy in the room. He could sketch but was no Da Vinci. Added to this, he could write decently. Individually, these talents meant little, but combined they resulted in Dilbert, the world-famous comic strip.

Talent stacking is literally the Kardashian clan’s blueprint for success. Are they the best in the world at anything? No, far from it. Their success lies in confidence, relentless self-promotion and marketing. Add to that a truly modern family (ethnic diversity, bi-racial, transgender), work ethic, social media know-how and BOOM…you have the Kardashian empire. If you are still not convinced, here are more examples of famous talent stackers (slightly simplified for illustrative purposes):

• Computers + Design + Marketing + Business = Steve Jobs

• Athleticism + Acting + Work ethic + Charisma + Business savvy = Duwayne “the Rock” Johnson (highest paid actor in Hollywood)

• Athletics + Shoe design + Entrepreneurship + Business (MBA graduate) = Phil Knight, founder of Nike

• Business skills + Negotiating + Risk-taking + Branding + Public speaking + Extreme confidence = Donald Trump

What skills are useful?

I reiterate. You must be proficient, but don’t need to be the best. It’s the combination that counts and the possible combinations are endless. Three skills, though, can be layered on top of any talent stack to amplify its effectiveness:

1. It’s no coincidence that most of the most memorable people in history were great communicators. Communication is a talent stack multiplier by creating a bridge between your ideas and the world. You are not limited to writing, public speaking or general conversational abilities. Less traditional proficiencies, like coding and video making are equally useful.

2. Technology is the cornerstone of human progress, so being a Luddite has limited value. But you don’t need hacker-level skills. Far from it. A solid understanding of a concept like blockchain, analytics, artificial intelligence, coding, etc. already puts you ahead of 90% of the world.

3. Psychology is key because decisions are made based on how the human brain (including yours) perceives the world. Try selling something to somebody when they are in a good vs a bad mood. Your odds of success will vary drastically. The field of psychology is deep, and its study is a lifelong practice. But in time, as Scott Adams says, “it will allow you to understand things that confuse and confound those around you”. If you want to learn more, awareness of cognitive biases is a good starting point. Click here for that.

In a nutshell

As a qualified and relatively experienced, let’s say accountant, is there much benefit investing another 1000 hours enhancing your accounting skills? The law of diminishing returns says, no. Instead, dedicate the 1000 hours to learning (or improving) something that makes you unique and compliments your existing skillset. Communication, psychology and technology are all good bets. I’m convinced that the world will more warmly embrace an accountant with a good grasp of blockchain technology and strong communication skills, as opposed to a marginally improved accountant.

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Life expectancy

I’m unaware of a metric that better summarises human progress than average life expectancy. It reflects a culmination of advances in healthcare, education, technological, access to food and water. I went digging on Our World in Data (awesome website) and found fascinating stats on the topic.

Only 50 years ago, not a single country had a life expectancy of over 75 years. In India and Africa, life expectancy was below 50 years.

Today the picture looks considerably different, with the global average exceeding 72 years.

There have been remarkable improvements across the globe, including “poorer” (or formerly poor) countries like China, India and Ethiopia.

As a side observation, this graph also depicts the devastating impact HIV/AIDS had on South Africa (my home country) during the 90s and 00s.

How much longer can these life expectancy gains continue? Technological advances pushing life expectancy to well over 100 is not unrealistic. Imagine our children or grandchildren could live up to the age of 140. Will family gatherings include five generations at once? Will we have centenarians as co-workers?

This is a tremendous achievement. Our news feeds are inundated with doom and gloom about the state of the world. Every now and then though, humanity deserves a pat on the back.

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To conclude, and on a humorous note - this tweet made me ponder how our 140-year-old grandchildren will one day reflect on us (maybe from Mars).

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Have a great weekend. See you next week.