From scouting promising athletes to debating over the best way to help gifted children reach their full potential, society’s focus on talent is ubiquitous. Identifying talent is beneficial to developing a person’s skills, and in organizations, it’s essential in matching employees to the right jobs. Effectively recognizing and nurturing talent allows businesses to develop leaders and reach growth targets.
However, despite the validity of psychological testing, there is still some apprehension in accepting talent evaluations. This is especially true when that evaluation is in conflict with our self-perception of our skills. We don’t like to hear that we aren’t as talented as we think we are. Self-delusional bias allows us to overestimate our abilities and competencies, while downplaying our weaknesses. This bias often carries over to the way we view others. Whether it’s seeing ourselves as more compassionate or hard-working, we tend to rate ourselves higher than we rate others.
Though talent evaluations might not always foresee future performance and development with 100% accuracy, they are often correct because our decisions are predictable.