Zootropolis is a wonderful Disney animated film (I admit I am a devoted fan ❤️ of the genre), whose main character is a little rabbit named Judy Hopps who dreams of becoming a police officer.
Judy lives in a metropolis populated by animals of every kind and has to contend with large, powerful and dangerous beasts.
The film's message is wonderful and as useful to adults as to children:
if you want something, if you have a goal, you can always achieve it: everything depends on you and your effort!
It is the value of never giving up and believing in possibilities, a value on which the United States built a country and which Italy could usefully strengthen in exchange for a less critical spirit 😃.
The media in particular should focus on empowering stories, not just crime news and fuelling opinion-making. I feel that in Italy, stories without happy endings are preferred; perhaps we need to see people worse off than ourselves for consolation. It seems success in general should not be told, because it inspires only criticism. Someone else's success takes nothing away from me; instead, it gives me an example to follow.
Returning to never giving up, I like to speak of the T² effect as the effect produced by the combination of Talent and Tenacity.
Not a sum of effects but a product, an exponential effect: if we combine talent with perseverance, no goal will be unreachable.
What is Talent?
Talent is defined as an innate ability, a natural predisposition towards any discipline demonstrating significant, distinctive intellectual skills and gifts.
Nature gives us talents in life. Sometimes they are immediately apparent; at other times we must search deeply to uncover them.
Parents, teachers, coaches, friends and, why not, our managers can help us on this journey.
We may discover our talent after years of work!
The importance of school in identifying young people's talents
That is why the search should begin as early as possible, with as many experiences as possible from childhood onwards.
Once identified, however, talent must be nourished and trained to make the most of it.
The wonderful speech by Jeff Bezos about talents and choices (Gifts and choices) at Princeton University: nature gives us gifts, and through our choices we can honour or waste them.
I am always fascinated by raw talent!
Raw talent often has a distinctive characteristic: it is immediately recognisable to an observer.
Often, you can spot it without being an expert in the subject.
For example, I was captivated by the talent of a 17-year-old girl (stage name Casadilego) who appeared on X Factor. Here is her audition video:
I am usually a distracted viewer, but this time I was captured, and the emotions flowed on their own.
In art, sport and music, talent is probably easier to recognise immediately. I wonder what signals or proxies might help identify raw talent in business.
Is it equally easy to recognise in business?
It occurs to me that, as with Casadilego, a humble, simple approach (without unnecessary layers) might help.
Finding and nurturing the best people is a critical success factor for every company: we can devise the finest strategies on paper, but the players are the ones who take to the field!
The value of Perseverance
Talent is our engine, but willpower is our fuel!
A Ferrari without fuel can be admired, but it will not take us anywhere! Perseverance is the fuel that makes our dreams possible!
A photo I took at the Pescara Ironman 70.3 of Alex Zanardi
Alex Zanardi is an example of perseverance and willpower for everyone, a symbol of Never Give Up even abroad. I was fortunate to meet him: a humble, approachable person, as only the great can be.
Below is the video of the final scene of The Founder which tells the story of the famous McDonald's fast-food chain, started by the McDonald brothers and taken to success by ambitious milkshake-mixer salesman Ray Kroc.
In the video, Ray reveals that perseverance was the secret of his success! Not talent, education or genius, but persistence!
It should be said that Ray Kroc's story is only partly a good example, because his perseverance came at others' expense, particularly the McDonald brothers, who were the true inventors of the fast-food concept, demonstrating talent and genius.
Every year in Prescott, Arizona, the “Man Against Horse Race” takes place: an 84-kilometre race featuring both runners 🏃 and horses 🏇! The horses are ridden by experienced jockeys competing for the final prize. So far, nothing strange: Americans have accustomed us to far more bizarre things 😊
The surprising thing is that the #runner can win!
We must never forget that endurance and perseverance are among the qualities written into our DNA.
Thanks to these qualities, we were able to hunt animals much faster than ourselves. Hunters followed prey for days until it succumbed to exhaustion.
Human beings can manage the suffering of fatigue when they have a goal, whereas an animal cannot: it collapses when fatigue becomes excessive.
The human ability to go further arises from motivation, the will to achieve a goal (from survival to giving our own meaning to life).
Perseverance can be trained and improved.
Here, in my humble opinion, are some of the best techniques:
Set yourself goals
Getting used to setting goals is a healthy habit. I do not mean just work goals, but goals in general (getting back into shape, quitting smoking, moving house, learning a new subject, etc.).
It is important for these goals to require effort, because the training effect lies more in the journey than in reaching the destination.
As with conquering a mountain summit, satisfaction comes from reaching the top along a hard, demanding route.
Sport
The sport is the great metaphor for life!
Training strengthens both our bodies and our minds, filling our reserves of perseverance.
For this and other values, I believe introducing our children to sport is essential, not to turn them into champions but to train them to be better people.
Endurance sports are preferable, because working on the mind matters as much as working on our legs.
Conclusions
The beauty of life is that talent and passion do not always go hand in hand, while passion and willpower do.
Over time, I have developed a strong conviction that has greatly increased my confidence: I fear no challenge, because where talent cannot take me, perseverance and willpower will.
I hope to teach all this to my daughters, so that one day they too can say: "Dad, I never give up!".
PS: could perseverance itself be a talent? 🤔🤔🤔