Economics is known as the dismal science and it is indeed true that it is rarely difficult to tell the difference between an economist and a ray of sunshine. One of the things about economists though is that they have (whatever you might think about their ability to predict stock markets or interest rates) a depressing habit of being correct.



Most especially they seem to be correct in their estimations of human character. We are all by temperament lazy, greedy and in fact, bone idle. In fact the whole edifice of the science is built upon this simple and basic idea. We humans need a reason to do something, just as if a monkey is given a decent pile of bananas and a monkette for the afternoons, he's a happy as Larry. We need something to get us to do things, something to encourage us to engage the grey matter and actually achieve something.

Please don't think that this is simply something so vulgar as mere money: yes, of course, we are all motivated by the folding stuff to a certain extent but it is by no means the most important factor. Interest, pride, these are much more powerful factors and the one that brings the best out in people is their being challenged. Such a challenge should always be just that little further than what we think we can actually achieve, that's the secret of motivation.

Which brings us to having to have a reasonable definition of success: we can think of it as simply being the one who climbed furthest up the greasy pole but that's a terribly reductionist view. Much more interesting is to regard the successful as those who have actually achieved more than they or anyone else thought possible. Which will, from our above description be those who have been offered and then achieved, a series of challenges, each of which was just a little bit beyond their grasp at first, but which they grew and worked into.

This also has its relevance to the recruitment process of course. When using Talisman one useful thing to do, whether you're working from the employer or potential employee side, is to remember that those who succeed are those who are challenged and then manage that challenge. Employers would do well to look for that candidate who doesn't, quite just yet, have everything wanted, for they may well grow into it. Similarly, prospective employees might want to look for something currently just beyond their grasp: succeeding at a challenge is indeed the definition of success.