Devil's Advocate

Here's to one of the timeless and classical debates (maybe controversial too)- aptitude or attitude??? This question becomes all the more pertinent for people going in for professional courses like MBA's (which has become a bastion for all the jobless- due pun intended) or those looking for jobs. The old school folks will prefer the aptitude route for it's so called ability to quantify(?) the skills of a person. But seldom do they take cognizance of the fact that such tests can be be-fooled by rote. We all have come across bookworms (no offense guys)  who would bury their heads in books and mug up stuff all-day-long. But is it enough? Does it suffice the objective and obligation of us being social animals? Aptitude tests are designed to find out whether the person has the innate, acquired or learned or developed component of a competency. But are these tests really designed to find such qualities? Of all the aptitude tests that I have come across, one fact stood out, glaring down into my eyes (as I bravely attempted to answer the questions)- that it would have been better if my parents would have brought me up as a bookworm.

And since I have lambasted aptitude so much (also because of the fact that I HATE them), here's my share of praises for attitude. This has been my firm belief since long that the only difference between a successful and a non-successful person is their attitudes. I will defend my attitude even at the cost of being called arrogant. It is the attitude which has made seemingly common people stand out of crowd. Unlike aptitude which dwells upon the amount of formal education one has acquired (read mugged) during the course of endless years, attitude will be a better yardstick to judge people for their abilities. I suppose quoting the example of Bill Gates would serve as a testimony to all these facts. MIT threw him out because he, supposedly, did not possess the right aptitude. But look at the results. MIT now runs machines on the products created by the company whose head was kicked out by the same university. Some irony there. And why did he succeed? Attitude. Period.

So where are we getting to? All those hackers and script-kiddies who would run havoc on networks around the world would have been fruitfully employed had some people given up the notion of aptitude's superiority over attitude's. Just look around sirs. The world has changed. Why should we confirm to the yardsticks that have been set by you? The IIT-JEE is invariably the toughest aptitude test in the whole-wide-world. It ensures that the sharpest(?) minds get through. But how many patents do these premier institutes hold? How many SUN Microsystems or Googles have they produced? None. Instead they produce engineers who sit in yet another aptitude test called the CAT to get into IIM's. Where are we heading anyways?

It seems that life has become a vicious cycle of endless aptitude tests!!!