High Ability

Malcolm Gladwell comments, “If you go to the bookstore, you can find a hundred success manuals, or biographies of famous people, or self-help books that promise to outline the six keys to great achievement. (Or is it seven?)

“So we should be pretty sophisticated on the topic. What I came to realize in writing Outliers, though, is that we’ve been far too focused on the individual – on describing the characteristics and habits and personality traits of those who get furthest ahead in the world.

“And that’s the problem, because in order to understand the outlier I think you have to look around them – at their culture and community and family and generation. We’ve been looking at tall trees, and I think we should have been looking at the forest.”

Perfectionism can be experienced as an intense drive toward excellence - or as a pathological obsession that impedes spontaneous imagination and creative play.

In her post Blogging My Way Through Perfectionism, Lisa Rivero comments about Mary-Elaine Jacobsen, author of The Gifted Adult:

‘Jacobsen differentiates between pathologically perfectionistic obsessions or compulsions, on the one hand, and an innate “drive to perfect” on the other.

‘She writes, “Contrary to some psychological theories, a perfection orientation is not dysfunctional and not equivalent to compulsive perfectionism."

In the 1960s, the legendary psychologist Albert Bandura rejected the view that learning is passive. Instead he emphasized the importance of the active use of learning strategies. ...

"Over the past few decades there have been multiple studies showing the effectiveness of the self-regulated learning strategies approach using a variety of methodologies (e.g., think-aloud protocols, diaries, observation)."

Biographer Larry Kane wrote: “People would be surprised at how insecure John Lennon was, and his lack of self esteem." … Tilda Swinton once commented she is “very often referred to as ‘Sir’ in elevators and such…I think people just can’t imagine I’d be a woman if I look like this.”

Kathleen Noble, PhD said in our interview, “Gifted women tend to be highly androgynous… they tend to combine qualities that we ascribe to both genders."

"George Harrison's life as a creation of personality. ... For psychologist and theorist Kazimierz Dabrowski...personality meant something quite different, requiring us to suspend our usual understanding of personality and replace it with something else entirely. According to Dabrowski, a personality is something that we give ourselves, that we can create and shape, especially in adulthood, through continual change.

The ‘gifted’ label & the pressure to deliver - In his book “Your Own Worst Enemy..” psychologist Kenneth W. Christian, PhD delineates some of the most prominent patterns of thinking and behavior he has found that may lead to undermining and underachievement as adults.

“Overexcitability is a sensitivity of the nervous system, an expanded awareness of and a heightened capacity to respond to stimuli such as noise, light, smell, touch etc.”

Michael Jackson exemplified a number of these qualities as a singer and dancer.

Video excerpts from the SENGinar (a webinar by SENG): "Understanding Overexcitabilities – The Joys and the Challenges" Presented by Susan Daniels, PhD -  Description from the SENG site: 

Overexcitabilites – psychomotor, sensual, intellectual, imaginational and emotional – are often presented as personality traits and behaviors to be managed in terms of interactions at home and at school...

Yet, as important, one must consider and understand that it is an overexcitable nature that contributes to the talent development as well as the social-emotional development of gifted children, youth and adults.

By Emilie Wapnick. "Having strong core confidence is super important for multipotentialites since it’s what allows you to try new things more often (to “fail fast and iterate,” as they say). When you have core confidence, you’re more likely to pursue your interests in spite of the fear, and thus develop contextual confidence in that area faster."

"If my father had pressured me like this and I had not done well, it would have been child abuse, and I would be traumatized, maybe destroyed.

“She can be quite murderously challenging in her perfectionism.
Take Twenty: ‘Are you sure that’s good enough?’ [Kidman says.]
“We’re going, [wearily] ‘Yeah.’ ”

Director Jane Campion about working with Nicole Kidman on “Portrait of a Lady.”

Campion also said of her: “She gets a bee in her bonnet, and she’s off. She’s excited. And the passion and the feeling is stronger than any sense of censorship, and I like that.”

By Linda Kreger Silverman, Ph.D.

"When we equate giftedness with achievement in school, or with the potential for noteworthy achievement in adult life, we create an inequitable criterion for children of color, children who are economically disadvantaged, and females. Throughout history, those who attain eminence have been predominantly white, middle or upper class males...

"By way of contrast, giftedness is color-blind, is found in equal proportions in males and females... and is distributed across all socio-economic levels... While the percentage of gifted students among the upper classes may be higher, the vast majority of gifted children come from the lower classes... Throughout the world, there are more poor gifted children than rich ones."

Many highly talented people do achieve great things or feel creatively fulfilled as adults, but there can be many challenges on the way, including coming to terms with an identity as ‘gifted’ or ‘exceptional.’

In her article Growing Up Gifted Is Not Easy, Elaine Aron (author of The Highly Sensitive Person) writes about people being put into a role as a beyond-human exemplar, which can start in childhood or as a teen.

“I was shy. I was a mixture of insecurities and very bossy.” J.K. Rowling added that she was “Very bossy to my sister but quite quiet with strangers. Very bookish. Terrible at school."

One of the personal qualities that seems to be shared by most gifted children is being different and divergent – in terms of thinking, interests, values and behavior.

Many gifted adults feel “wrong” or anxious about “not fitting in” even though being different can be a strength, a positive attribute.

Therese J. Borchard writes: "I have been sent the prayer by St. Theresa, my patron saint,so many times. But reading it today, I realized it’s the perfect prayer for perfectionists. Here it is:

David Shenk is author of The Genius in All of Us - Why Everything You've Been Told About Genetics, Talent, and IQ Is Wrong. He says "The public has been poorly served when it comes to understanding the relationship between biology and ability.