On talent

The job description Bezos wrote for his very first employee said, “You must have experience designing and building large and complex (yet maintainable) systems, and you should be able to do so in about one-third the time that most competent people think possible.

What is “talent?” Well, I suppose it’s the ability to do that which is excellent (that which astounds, amazes, and so on). It’s a bit circular, really: if you can write something that astounds, that is, de facto, proof of talent. Is there a way to predict it, to diagnostically spot it early, and issue some sort of reassuring certification, that one... See more