The Parable of the Sharpest Talent

• The expressions “sharp and talented” and “rounded person” are used to refer to human resources. - pointed stone and the image of a round stone by a river, etc.
  • The analogy of “a sharp stone becoming round” is often used.

• ‘Sharp people become rounded.’
  • Some interpret it negatively, others positively.
  • How to perceive people who feel negatively:
    • The sharpest points are strengths and areas of expertise
    • Good engineers become mediocre cobblestones when their “sharp edges” are chipped away by the homogeneous pressures of big business.
  • How to perceive people who feel positive:
    • The sharpest point is the lack of cooperativeness due to youth
    • Sharpness causes unnecessary friction by bumping into others.
    • The sharp edges are removed while being struggled with, and they become rounded and “amicable character”.
  • The fact that these two interpretations are not even independent makes the problem deeper.

The two correspond to the words “specialist” and “generalist”. seeSpecialists and Generalists

Parable

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