Jobs: The shift to commercial talent

 

The Nigerian economy has continued to show poor symptoms of health especially in the corporate sector. It is reasonably expected that in the years ahead, the size and attractiveness of opportunities for salaried, white-collar employment may diminish relative to the available supply of skilled labour. At such times as this, two works of art come to mind. An old song and a piece of hilarious but instructive comedy. First the song. It was Juju maestro, Ebenezer Obey that sang about four decades ago “Ma se ri talenti re mo’le arakunrin, Oluwa yio bere l’owo re ohun t’ofise”. This song, based on the scripture parable of the talents, conveys a simple message “Do not bury your talent my brother, for the Lord will ask of you, what you did with it”. As natural abilities, talents carry both and social commercial value and impose a measure of accountability for their use, non-usage, or misuse. Even when a person carries just one ability, the Master still expects a return on this investment of His.

Now to the comedy. For people who are familiar with Internet-broadcast comedy, there’s this chap called “Woli” Arole, a “make shift” prophet and comedian. In one ‘ministration’, he enjoins his ‘congregation’ to pray thus: “Water melon aye mi, tani eni to nfi wheelbarrow taa? Orungbalowo e, kogbe lo supermarket!” In English, “who is that fellow selling my life’s water melon with a wheelbarrow. Let the heavens collect it from him and take it to a modern grocery store!”

The comedy comes with its own lessons. Pieces of watermelon on a wheelbarrow and in the grocery store may otherwise be identical and have similar nutritional value. Yet, one commands a higher price than the other which is considered cheap, too accessible, and discounted as ‘common watermelon.” In the same way, human abilities expressed in common places or in common ways may pass as ordinary skills with no sign of distinction or superior performance. Like the watermelon on the grocery store indicates, it’s not enough for the individual to find where his or her ability lies, it is equally important to find the right environment and nurture potential abilities to top quality. Even well-developed talent requires some level of innovation and organization to command anything close to true market value.

In line with the ancient apostle’s declaration that “the gifts and callings of God are without repentance”, it is a matter of fact that whether an individual has used them or not, natural talents remain and abide for years, decades, and may of course last a lifetime. However, gifts and talents don’t discover, develop, or use themselves. That is primarily the responsibility of the one in whom talent is bestowed, the one who has received the gift to begin with.

Just as in the 1980s and early 1990s when the Nigerian economy offered limited employment opportunities in the formal sector, the years ahead in the Nigerian economy promise to be challenging especially for long-term, white-collar employment. At such times, many will need to revert to the use of their natural abilities (beyond education and certifications) to create economic opportunities for themselves and others whom they will need to employ. In the emerging environment of competition and “boundarilessness”, talent alone would not make much difference, it will need to transform from a mere gift or personal ability to a commercial enterprise that creates value, profitably and sustainably.

The ingredients and process through which raw talent is developed to the level of commerce can be illustrated with two examples from the world of art: music and fiction-writing. In music, the singing talent is clearly manifest in the singer’s voice and her ability to extend and control the output of that voice. Yet, a great voice, alone in itself, does not make a good, not to mention a great musician. First, there is a process for the development of a singer’s voice: through different stages of life, various forms of personal discipline are required to nurture a potentially great voice into a truly great one.

Nevertheless, voice training is only a narrow aspect of a musician’s development. As the individual works to progress from being a singer to becoming a musician, the skills, efforts, and contributions of others become increasingly important. At this point, the quality of human association, communication skills, ability to lead and work with others all become critical.The absence of these non-talent abilities can hold back or even unmake a potentially world-class music talent. The musician needs to work with first a voice trainer, then songwriters, producers, musical instrument specialists, technical professionals (including studio managers), record label-owners and marketers among others.

The writer of fiction faces a task that is simpler but is by no means easier. He or she needs to combine the disciplines of concentration, imagination, good organization, willingness to learn with a natural flair for storytelling. The need to work with others is no less important. Like the musician, the writer must produce works that publishers consider to be potential winners among perhaps hundreds of competing manuscripts.

As a contracting, or slow-growth economy compels, among other things, a reversion to what the individual does best. Young men and women will increasingly choose their own path based on their natural abilities, skills, and experience in business, the professions, entertainment, education, sports, events management, and food processing. Beyond this trend however, the economic and demographic conditions would also impose keener competition within the talent arena. As that happens, the key differentiator in performance and value would not be the level or quantum of talent but the discipline, innovation, knowledge and organization with which the talented individual applies himself or herself to the commercial demands of creating value from otherwise unused or previously underutilized talent.

 

David Adeoye, CFA

David, a deal adviser, corporate strategist, and business economist is a director at Fritova Economics.