Abilities/Capabilities/Skills vs. Attitudes 能力 vs. 態度
Abilities/Capabilities/Skills and attitudes are the most important requirements a person should have. Attitude is the way of behaving, based on our inner motivations, personal values and aims. Skills are the activities/capabilities we are able to do during our professional career. In the process to be a good person in society, which of them is the most important? abilities/capabilities/skills or attitudes?
Sometimes, a positive attitude impacts more than a pure skill. Attitude helps to overcome possible obstacles, and to keep on motivating when the situation is harder. Why? Because skills can be taught, attitudes can’t. Besides, attitude requires trust, care, mutual respect, will, quality, etc. Attitude is described as a manner, disposition, feeling and position. It is the way and the choice of how a person views something or tends to behave towards it. Skill, on the other hand, is the ability acquired from knowledge and practice. It means to do something well in a particular field. In an ideal world, the best combination of all is having great skill and attitude that goes along with positive thinking. But in the real world, many people tend to have a great number of abilities, capabilities and skills, but showing no signs of positive attitudes. Actually, there are many skills that can be gained and learned quickly, but this is going to be a much longer and more difficult path to form an attitude and change the long-term viewpoints. William James (American philosopher and psychologist) said, “It is our attitude at the beginning of a difficult undertaking which, more than anything else, will determine its successful outcome.”
In fact, attitude is the way we look at life. It is the way we choose to see and respond to events, situations, people and ourselves. Our attitude is created by our thoughts. In other words, we are the architect of our frame of mind. We decide how we perceive and process the events in our lives. A positive attitude is the result of a disciplined and deliberate way of seeing, thinking, and responding to life. It is a mental discipline. It is intentional. It is mental toughness. A positive attitude is not naïve. Rather, it sees and acknowledges problems, and then focuses on finding solutions and opportunities. A positive attitude is habit-forming, and it affects us mentally and physically. A person with a positive attitude always outperform others in society.
Finally, the outcome of our life should be the product of three factors: attitude, effort and ability. Effort and ability range from 0 to +100 points. Since these two numbers are multiplied rather than simply added, it means that someone who exerts unbeatable efforts to compensate for “average” abilities can accomplish more than a genius who makes only a minimal effort. (勤能補拙) Thomas Edison said, “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.” (愛迪生說：天才是1%的天分加上99%的努力。) Furthermore, this product is further multiplied by attitude, which can range from −100 to +100. Depending on our attitude, the outcome of our life can change by 180 degrees. Thus, while ability and effort are important, it is our attitude that counts the most.