What a joy it was to discover the 2006 movie
"Copying Beethoven" last night. The film had me read more this morning
about the moody maestro. It seems that in 1819 Anton Diabelli had asked
composers to create variations of his rather mundane, unremarkable
waltz. Beethoven resisted the invitation, concurring that the piece was
hardly adequate. Four years later, however, Beethoven debuted his
"Diabelli Variations, Op. 120" as the masterpiece it was. Today's Wall Street Journal calls it "one of the two greatest sets of piano variations in classical music history."
We all know that talent is among the essential arbiters of successful performance. And yet some hiring organizations seem unwilling to discern among talent levels. They buy into the view, more or less, that people are interchangeable parts regardless of wide variations in underlying talent.
We all know that talent is among the essential arbiters of successful performance. And yet some hiring organizations seem unwilling to discern among talent levels. They buy into the view, more or less, that people are interchangeable parts regardless of wide variations in underlying talent.
Some bosses don't want to hire people smarter than they
are, or they suppress their most talented employees because of their own
insecurities. Some organizations settle for budget-conscious mediocrity
and, sadly, never realize the difference between, say, Diabelli's
"cabbage patch," as Beethoven dubbed the original, mediocre waltz, and
the product of real talent.
Image courtesy of www.all-about-beethoven.com
Image courtesy of www.all-about-beethoven.com