I remain convinced that management thinking on the era of talent is sound. Application and execution are quite another matter! Sure, there is much more flexibility in terms and conditions of employment out there: more people are working as freelancers, more people are taking gap years and career breaks, more people are sharing jobs and working flexible hours, hardly anyone goes to work "suited and booted" these days, etc.

I can also see that there is a lot of self-publicity going on, on networking websites like Facebook and LinkedIn, and in the myriad blogs burgeoning on the Web. People seem to love advertising a tailored version of themselves to the world, and they are keen to post their opinions on just about anything for widespread scrutiny and comment.

People have eagerly grasped the personal and lifestyle opportunities of the talent era, but I don't often see that same enthusiasm for the other side of the coin, the task of staying in shape, in terms of competency and capability, for ever more demanding requirements at work. Too often, under-performance in this respect is blamed on someone else's failure, be it a poor line manager, the human resources department (heaven forbid), or the company at large. The required degree of personal commitment to stay on top in the talent era is all too often missing.