Would beauty transcend?

In 2007 The Washington Post asked Joshua bell, a Grammy-winning violinist, to pretend to be a street performer playing for change in the Metro. It was a social experiment for a magazine article: if a world-famous musician and his $10+ million dollar violin brought some of history’s most beautiful music to a rush-hour crowd, would people stop and listen? “In a banal setting at an inconvenient time, would beauty transcend?,” the story wondered. The answer: 1,070 people passed Bell without paying him any attention.

The experiment repeated 7 years later, but that time announced, attracting thousands.

Talent and beauty was there, some people argue that presentation/marketing was the key and use this case to illustrate bad/good ways to sell something. However the problem is the selling process itself and how we get used to it, that meaning thousands could fill a train station if advertisement is made and everyone will follow the crowd and applaud, regardless of the performer.

Due to false advertising our senses get numb, to a point where we eventually lose the ability to see beauty or quality when is there.

Years ago I quit a job because the work environment was toxic: daily team meetings were argument battles about who was right instead of what was right. A key pattern there was: few people had any real technical qualifications or tertiary degree, many had zero formal education in technical fields, but still displayed roles like “senior engineer”, “technical architect”, etc.

A quick tutorial about something does not make you an expert or an “engineer” or “architect” overnight, but it seems that, in the current way of life: where selling or “fake it till you make it” is the mantra, quality or beauty is often eclipsed by the multitude of voices wanting to sell at any cost.

That drag into other areas, making services to be average or poor, regardless of flashy lights or reviews.

While I write this, I think in the long list of examples that could show the point:

• dentists: even when they are supposed to be qualified you have to be lucky to get a good and reliable clinic. I had an OK procedure time ago, went to the same place for something similar, dentist retired so I had a different one, did a terrible job. Does it sound familiar to you?
• car electrician: went to a local shop following Google reviews, the guy screwed up things as he could not find the issue, I even had to explain him what and how to fix it…
• watercare (local water/services provider): while I write this I’m still waiting them (day 5) to fix a blocked drain.
• haircuts: regardless of how premium the place looks or how much they ask the result is more or less the same.

Another consequence of this pattern of entitlement or unqualified overselling is that turns decision making to average, poor or closed-minded as well.

Recently in the local news I read about an experienced neurosurgeon application to work here rejected! The doctor was born in Hungary then worked and trained other neurosurgeons in the UK, but the local panel said his experience was not “equivalent to, or as satisfactory as, a New Zealand-trained doctor”. (insert #facepalm here)

I guess the problem in this case was maybe translating the qualifications into local standards, in my case I had to convert my credentials (university degree/transcripts) into a local equivalent (NZQA), in that process I ended up with a basic degree, which is not accurate but at least was something to show in the CV initially. Surely his Hungarian education was not exactly what we have or expect here, etc.

Beyond that, the problem is that in current schema of things, talent or beauty are usually overlooked too. I recall couple work interviews and the feedback I got from them:

• “Engrish no good” (from a nervous Japanese guy)
• “Not a top player” (from a random mid-management dude without much experience)
• “Slow” (from a guy without any formal tech qualifications but stellar role/title)

Point made is, talent or beauty never shines in sub-par environments, but it does not mean is not there.

If you notice that you are not being recognized for your contributions or if you are simply rolling the ball at work, doing basic things then it might time to move on to something different.

I hope you can find the place where your talent can shine.