--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: How we put our collective talents to work…" description: "\"How we put our collective talents to work is a social issue, not solely a personal one.\" — Clay Shirky" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/77c/clay-shirky-3364_collective_how-we-put-our-collective-talents-to-wor_662226.png" --- # How we put our collective talents to work is a social… ![“How we put our collective talents to work is a social issue, not solely a personal one.” quote by Clay Shirky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/77c/clay-shirky-3364_collective_how-we-put-our-collective-talents-to-wor_662226.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/77c/clay-shirky-3364_collective_how-we-put-our-collective-talents-to-wor_662226.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/77c/clay-shirky-3364_collective_how-we-put-our-collective-talents-to-wor_662226.png) > “How we put our collective talents to work is a social issue, not solely a personal one.” [Clay Shirky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clay-shirky/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Collective talent should be organized socially, not just individually. **In simple terms:** Teamwork is a societal concern, not only personal. Key Takeaway Promote collaborative structures. Themes collaboration society talent Mood analytical inspirational Type philosophical strategic When to use this quote - business development - nonprofit management - education reform Key Concepts organizational theory social capital Questions to Reflect On - How can institutions foster collective action? - What barriers hinder shared talent use? A Different Perspective Individual effort alone cannot solve complex problems. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Issues](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/issues/) [Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social/) [Social issues](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social-issues/) [Talent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/talent/) ## Related quotes > [You know, social issue movies don't make a lot of money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-phillippe/you-know-social-issue-movies-don-t-make-a-lot-of-money/) [Ryan Phillippe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-phillippe/) > [I don't think there is a single social issue I haven't spoken on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-graham/i-don-t-think-there-is-a-single-social-issue-i-haven-t-spoken-on/) [Billy Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-graham/) > [Architecture and architectural freedom are above all a social issue that must be seen from inside a political structure, not from outside it,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/architecture-and-architectural-freedom-are-above-all-a-social-issue/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Addiction is a health issue, not a social issue, not a crime, not a legal issue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-k-williams/addiction-is-a-health-issue-not-a-social-issue-not-a-crime-not-a/) [Michael K. Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-k-williams/) > [I oftentimes receive the question, "What do you think is the most important social issue to focus on?" Or, "What's the most important component…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amandla-stenberg/i-oftentimes-receive-the-question-what-do-you-think-is-the-most/) [Amandla Stenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amandla-stenberg/) > [“Being intelligent is not enough you need to take advantage of your talents and work hard to surge ahead without stepping on others toes”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhodolith-de-irio-cuambot/being-intelligent-is-not-enough-you-need-to-take-advantage-of-your/) [Rhodolith De-irio Cuambot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhodolith-de-irio-cuambot/) > [China has many successful entrepreneurs and business people. I hope that more people of insight will put their talents to work to improve the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gates/china-has-many-successful-entrepreneurs-and-business-people-i-hope/) [Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gates/) > [Of all the things I have done, the most vital is coordinating the talents of those who work for us and pointing them towards…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-disney/of-all-the-things-i-have-done-the-most-vital-is-coordinating-the/) [Walt Disney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-disney/) > [Is your love for the Lord sufficient to give all your time and talents to his work?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/is-your-love-for-the-lord-sufficient-to-give-all-your-time-and/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [The faster some talents work, the more risk plays into the equation and then the opportunities for injury increases.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-ross/the-faster-some-talents-work-the-more-risk-plays-into-the-equation/) [Jim Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-ross/) > [Maybe down the line I think I would like to call a game, but right now, I recognize where my talents are and how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-thomas/maybe-down-the-line-i-think-i-would-like-to-call-a-game-but-right-now/) [Joe Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-thomas/) > [“There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root," Henry David Thoreau famously remarked. Conventional…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-adams/there-are-a-thousand-hacking-at-the-branches-of-evil-to-one-who-is-3/) [Martin Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-adams/) > [I don't believe in hopping from one social issue to the next to be a part of the movement for a moment. Anything I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/machine-gun-kelly/i-don-t-believe-in-hopping-from-one-social-issue-to-the-next-to-be-a/) [Machine Gun Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/machine-gun-kelly/) > [“It doesn't have any effect on your life. What do you care?! People try to talk about it like it's a social issue. Like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-c-k/it-doesn-t-have-any-effect-on-your-life-what-do-you-care-people-try/) [Louis C. K](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-c-k/) > [Housing is a social issue: how we live and where we live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/housing-is-a-social-issue-how-we-live-and-where-we-live/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) ## More by Clay Shirky > [ “\[N\]ew technology enables new kinds of group-forming.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clay-shirky/n-ew-technology-enables-new-kinds-of-group-forming/) [Clay Shirky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clay-shirky/) > [To have a discussion about the plusses and minuses of various forms of group action, though, is going to require discussing the current tools…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clay-shirky/to-have-a-discussion-about-the-plusses-and-minuses-of-various-forms/) [Clay Shirky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clay-shirky/) > [“Mass amateurization of publishing makes mass amateurization of filtering a forced move.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clay-shirky/mass-amateurization-of-publishing-makes-mass-amateurization-of/) [Clay Shirky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clay-shirky/) > [“Information sharing produces shared awareness among the participants, and collaborative production relies on shared creation, but collective action creates shared responsibility, by tying the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clay-shirky/information-sharing-produces-shared-awareness-among-the-participants/) [Clay Shirky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clay-shirky/) > [More interesting than thinking about what's possible in 10 years is thinking what's possible now but that no one has built.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clay-shirky/more-interesting-than-thinking-about-what-s-possible-in-10-years-is/) [Clay Shirky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clay-shirky/) > [“Digital networks are increasing the fluidity of all media. The old choice between one-way public media (like books and movies) and two-way private media…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clay-shirky/digital-networks-are-increasing-the-fluidity-of-all-media-the-old/) [Clay Shirky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clay-shirky/) > [Even with the sacred printing press, we got erotic novels 150 years before we got scientific journals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clay-shirky/even-with-the-sacred-printing-press-we-got-erotic-novels-150-years/) [Clay Shirky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clay-shirky/) > [Tools get socially interesting after they're no longer technologically interesting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clay-shirky/tools-get-socially-interesting-after-they-re-no-longer/) [Clay Shirky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clay-shirky/) > [Carpooling is important for urban density, air pollution and other reasons, but carpooling is not the kind of thing that actually changes the energy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clay-shirky/carpooling-is-important-for-urban-density-air-pollution-and-other/) [Clay Shirky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clay-shirky/) > [If what you're doing is valuable for people, they will find a way to pay you to keep doing it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clay-shirky/if-what-you-re-doing-is-valuable-for-people-they-will-find-a-way-to/) [Clay Shirky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clay-shirky/) > [Multi-taskers often think they are like gym rats, bulking up their ability to juggle tasks, when in fact they are like alcoholics, degrading their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clay-shirky/multi-taskers-often-think-they-are-like-gym-rats-bulking-up-their/) [Clay Shirky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clay-shirky/) > [Civic participants don't aim to make life better merely for members of the group. They want to improve even the lives of people who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clay-shirky/civic-participants-don-t-aim-to-make-life-better-merely-for-members/) [Clay Shirky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clay-shirky/) > [I would not hesitate to say I was addicted to the Internet in the first two years. It can be addictive, and things not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clay-shirky/i-would-not-hesitate-to-say-i-was-addicted-to-the-internet-in-the/) [Clay Shirky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clay-shirky/) > [Bureaucracies temporarily suspend the Second Law of Thermodynamics. In a bureaucracy, it's easier to make a process more complex than to make it simpler,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clay-shirky/bureaucracies-temporarily-suspend-the-second-law-of-thermodynamics-in/) [Clay Shirky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clay-shirky/) > [The more ideas there are in circulation, the more ideas there are for any individual to disagree with. More media always means more arguing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clay-shirky/the-more-ideas-there-are-in-circulation-the-more-ideas-there-are-for/) [Clay Shirky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clay-shirky/) [Explore all 132 Clay Shirky quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clay-shirky/) ## More Collective quotes > [Close contact between science and the practice of collective farms and State farms creates inexhaustible opportunities for the development of theoretical knowledge, enabling us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trofim-lysenko/close-contact-between-science-and-the-practice-of-collective-farms/) [Trofim Lysenko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trofim-lysenko/) > [A “collective” mind does not exist. It is merely the sum of endless numbers of individual minds. If we have an endless number of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/a-collective-mind-does-not-exist-it-is-merely-the-sum-of-endless/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [America gave the world the notion of the melting pot - an alchemical cooking device wherein diverse ethnic and religious groups voluntarily mix together,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-krastev/america-gave-the-world-the-notion-of-the-melting-pot-an-alchemical/) [Ivan Krastev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-krastev/) > [I believe the personal is the collective. One of the ironies of writing memoir is in using the "I" it becomes an alchemical "we."…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-tempest-williams/i-believe-the-personal-is-the-collective-one-of-the-ironies-of/) [Terry Tempest Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-tempest-williams/) > [The Internet is a collective hallucination: one of the best humanity has ever generated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-zittrain/the-internet-is-a-collective-hallucination-one-of-the-best-humanity/) [Jonathan Zittrain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-zittrain/) > [We do not focus test our games and never had. People ask why we don't, and I say, 'I have so many opinions in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/todd-howard/we-do-not-focus-test-our-games-and-never-had-people-ask-why-we-don-t/) [Todd Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/todd-howard/) > [“No intelligent idea can gain general acceptance unless some stupidity is mixed in with it. Collective thought is stupid because it’s collective. Nothing passes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/no-intelligent-idea-can-gain-general-acceptance-unless-some-stupidity/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [It is the individual's task to differentiate himself from all the others and stand on his own feet. All collective identities . . .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/it-is-the-individual-s-task-to-differentiate-himself-from-all-the/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [I think. as a child, there's something frightening about certain adults, particularly when you're in their clutches or power. That must be the reason…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertie-carvel/i-think-as-a-child-there-s-something-frightening-about-certain-adults/) [Bertie Carvel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertie-carvel/) > [The living expression of the nation is the collective consciousness in motion of the entire people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frantz-fanon/the-living-expression-of-the-nation-is-the-collective-consciousness/) [Frantz Fanon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frantz-fanon/) > [When people in stadiums do the Wave, it's the group-mind collective organism spontaneously organizing itself to express an emotion, pass time, and reflect the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-saltz/when-people-in-stadiums-do-the-wave-it-s-the-group-mind-collective/) [Jerry Saltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-saltz/) > [“Now we're in that sweet period where everyone agrees that our recent horrors should never be repeated. But collective thinking is usually short-lived. We're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-collins/now-we-re-in-that-sweet-period-where-everyone-agrees-that-our-recent/) [Suzanne Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-collins/) > [Women's progress has been a collective effort.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/women-s-progress-has-been-a-collective-effort/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [“...I take as a point of departure the possibility and desirability of a fundamentally different form of society--call it communism, if you will--in which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-burawoy/i-take-as-a-point-of-departure-the-possibility-and-desirability-of-a/) Michael Burawoy > [The power of the story sheds a light and great perspective on well known facts. The power of cinema draws on that collective history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cate-blanchett/the-power-of-the-story-sheds-a-light-and-great-perspective-on-well/) [Cate Blanchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cate-blanchett/) Browse all 308 Collective quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "How we put our collective talents to work is a social issue, not solely a personal one.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Clay Shirky" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clay-shirky/how-we-put-our-collective-talents-to-work-is-a-social-issue-not/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Collective" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clay-shirky/how-we-put-our-collective-talents-to-work-is-a-social-issue-not/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/77c/clay-shirky-3364_collective_how-we-put-our-collective-talents-to-wor_662226.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/77c/clay-shirky-3364_collective_how-we-put-our-collective-talents-to-wor_662226.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/77c/clay-shirky-3364_collective_how-we-put-our-collective-talents-to-wor_662226.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“How we put our collective talents to work is a social issue, not solely a personal one.” — Clay Shirky", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Clay Shirky", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clay-shirky/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "How we put our collective talents...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clay-shirky/how-we-put-our-collective-talents-to-work-is-a-social-issue-not/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clay-shirky/how-we-put-our-collective-talents-to-work-is-a-social-issue-not/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```