A couple of months ago I lectured at Utah Valley University on the relationship between talent, hard work, practice, and artistic success. They recorded the presentation, and posted it on YouTube. Because, you know... ANYTHING that gets recorded eventually gets posted on YouTube. It's in four parts, but before you watch this thing I need to warn you -- the guys in the audio booth made a horrible mistake, and during some parts of the lecture they accidentally dropped in bits of a UVU commercial's audio track. It's really awful, and they assure me that the problem exists on every copy of my lecture that they have. I didn't hire the recording crew, so I can't fire them. Also, they're probably students. Also, their failure in this particular case is sure to be a stinging one, a resounding blow against whatever illusions of competence they may have crafted for themselves. PERFECT. If they decide to learn from it, this gaffe will make them better audio engineers someday. It's an object lesson that fits right in with my subject matter. So: One of the journalism students at UVU put together an excellent little news-piece after the fact. It's also on YouTube, and I can recommend it with no reservations whatsoever. If you're interested in knowing who I was citing, here's the bibliography: Flower and fountain photos ©2009, Janci Patterson Olds, used with permission. “Victor Pendrake” model from Privateer Press. Photo by Janci Patterson Olds, painted by Drew Olds, Garden Ninja Studios, used with permission “Schlock” pictures from Schlock Mercenary: The Tub of Happiness, ©2007 The Tayler Corporation “ How Not To Talk To Your Kids: The Inverse Power of Praise,” Po Bronson & Ashley Merryman, New York, Feb 12, 2007 “ Subtle Linguistic Cues Impact Children’s Motivation,” Cimpian, A., Arce, H., Markman, E.M., & Dweck, C.S., Psychological Science, April 2007: (subscription required) “ Family planning: Football style, the relative age effect in football.” Barnsley RH, Thompson AH, Legault P (1992). International Review for the Sociology of Sport 27(1), 77-88 “ The Role of Deliberate Practice in the Acquisition of Expert Performance,” Ericsson, Krampe, & Tesch-Romer, Psychological Review, 1993 Vol 100 #3:
