Do You Really Want to Democratise Talent?

democratise learning
The hostel at which RIGSS participants became democratised learners regardless of position or seniority.
The hostel at which RIGSS participants became democratised learners regardless of position or seniority.

These days, it seems much in vogue to democratise things. We want to democratise design, design thinking, leadership, and even the art of drinking tea! (By the way, I do have my doubts about this last one).

What does it mean to democratise something?

What does it mean to democratise something? It means to make something accessible to everyone. More than that, it means to empower everyone with something. And that something is usually, or previously, exclusive to a privileged few. 

Me too (not what you think!)

I too have been involved with trying to democratise something. I was quite heavily involved with the democratisation of talent in the Kingdom of Bhutan.

In my earliest conversations with the King of Bhutan, a theme that emerged from our discussions was how to democratise talent. In a monarchial society, talent can be constrained by who the king and his kingsmen come into contact with. As a result, talent can become the privileged domain of the elect, the exceptional and the elite. Let me explain further. 

The Elect

In a kingdom, the elect are those whose fates are divinely intertwined with the king’s, by supernatural twists of circumstances and chance interactions. Bhutan is replete with many stories of such chance encounters that defined lives and destinies. 

The Exceptional

These are men and women of valor, renown, and supreme abilities. Because of their talent, it is hard for them to remain hidden, even though some of them try to lead hermitic lives of recluse to pursue their meditations. For a small kingdom with a population of about 750,000, Bhutan is filled with many polymaths. 

The Elite

This is a natural occurrence in many societies, and Bhutan is no exception. The better off have a nutritional advantage for better brain development. They have access to networks and learning opportunities which contribute to more potent crucible moments for development. Some may even have privileged access to the powers that be, which result in their talent being more easily noticed.

Beyond the Elect, the Exceptional and the Elite

There is nothing wrong with these ways of acquiring talent. But when a country is small, one must become more effective in harvesting from the entire field rather than from a well-worn patch.

If these are the only three approaches to talent, then talent in Bhutan can become artificially confined in terms of definition, discovery and deployment.

The king is very aware of this. I suspect this is why he makes it a point to traverse his kingdom. This is not only a fulfilment of a pledge he made to his subjects. It is also a very focused strategy to unearth more hidden gems. Just like a shepherd is useless unless he knows his flock, likewise, a king cannot govern unless he knows his citizens.

Talent is the process of rising above one’s abilities to do something that transcends self-interest for the sake of the kingdom. To be talented is to have experienced being called out from the ordinary to do the extraordinary.

Who is This Guy?

When I first had a series of audiences with the king, some Bhutanese wondered if I was a Bhutanese in my past life. That would explain (in their minds) how I came to have such privileged access in so short a time. However, I quickly debunked that possibility. In my religion, it is appointed for man to live once, and die once. I cannot recall any prescient memories of the majestic mountains of Bhutan from a previous past life. Trust me, I think I’d know if I’d encounter the raw beauty of Bhutan from a previous life. It isn’t something one easily forgets.

As I proceeded with my work to democratise talent in Bhutan, some Bhutanese wondered if I was an exceptional talent. Surely I must be, for why else would their king use me? Perhaps my ‘talent’, if it can be counted as such, is that I am ordinary. I am not born to the rich, nor was I of world renown. But for a king to use someone ordinary to participate in something worthy and great….that speaks a better word than the treatise of talent as the world understands it. It speaks volumes of the talent of the king to make the most of the least of talent.

Talent is the process of rising above one’s abilities to do something that transcends self-interest for the sake of the kingdom. To be talented is to have experienced being called out from the ordinary to do the extraordinary. Talent is not a right or an inheritance of good genes. It is an effortful response to a higher call. It doesn’t take an Einstein to make one a talent. For I am sure Einstein would agree with Thomas Edison that genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration. 

He Started It!

For anyone but the king to want to democratise talent is to criticise the institution for constraining talent. But for the king to want to democratise talent – that is testament to his wisdom and foresight concerning the inherent limits of any institution or system. 

His father, the Great Fourth, King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, demonstrated this prescience, when he gifted his kingdom with democracy and abdicated in favour of his son, the present king. This present king now continues to serve Bhutan with the same spirit of wisdom and fair-mindedness. 

To be able to assist the king, I needed to recognise how his heart beats for the kingdom. As such, I had privileged access to him. He gave me time to be with him because discipleship must precede democratisation. Without discipleship, I could not be trusted with the king’s work.

Not Democratisation, but Discipleship

This approach paid dividends. In the same way, I learned to turn my time at the Royal Institute of Governance and Strategic Studies (RIGSS) into a means to make disciples of the way of the kingdom. A course in RIGSS was more than a milestone program. I emphasised the importance of being fruitful, being worthy alumni, being upstanding beneficiaries of the king’s gift. These are all attributes of discipleship. I asked participants: 

  1. Firstly, “What does it mean to be in a kingdom?”
  2. Secondly, “What does it mean to be members of a kingdom?”
  3. Thirdly, “What does it mean to serve a king?”
  4. Consequently, “What is one’s role in this kingdom?”
  5. Similarly, “What is one’s duty to the king?”

These questions do not inspire a revolution of talent management, nor instigate robbing the status quo of talent opportunities to give to the masses, which seems to be what many democratisation processes seek to incite. Instead, they invite others to come to dine at the table, to become part of a kingdom cause. It offers a way for old wineskins to retain the old wine, while allowing new wineskins to contain new wines. And surely we need both, for both are good!

Discipleship of Talent

Just as I spent time with the king to be under his tutelage, to learn his heart, and to know his ways, so too the way towards a proliferation of talent is to learn to follow well (i.e. to become a disciple) and to learn to nurture the same in others (i.e. to become a discipler of talent). 

With the wisdom of hindsight, discipleship is a wiser way than democratisation. It creates a new generation of talent that is salt that preserves the good, light that shines the way, shepherds to guide the flock, and servants to lead with meekness.

Such work is slow work. Not all who attend a RIGSS course will go on to become a disciple of the kingdom. Some will fall by the wayside. Others will be unmoved. Some will try for a while, only to give up, discouraged. Yet, is this not the way of discipleship? For all it takes is but a few to continue the way. And from that faithful few, a bountiful harvest will ensue.

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