Triagnel of Talent Illustrated
Gary Tan, president of Y Combinator, recently shared Shaan Puri’s “Triangle of Talent” on X.. Shaan describes the Triangle as an essential framework that significantly improved his approach to management, encapsulating a simple but impactful insight: every employee is fundamentally a problem solver, and the most valuable employees are those who consistently identify and address the most critical problems.
The illustration itself is powerful precisely because of its simplicity, it feels almost like an engineering diagram, cutting straight to the heart of a fundamental managerial truth.
Inspired by this, I collaborated with Yudha, an illustrator from Yogyakarta, Indonesia, part of the bld.ai network. Yudha is experimenting with integrating AI tools into his illustration process, moving beyond traditional software like Photoshop and Procreate. Our ongoing productivity study aims to understand how AI augmentation affects illustrators, much like it has transformed productivity for programmers, attorneys, and accountants. We’re exploring how the combination of human creativity with AI tools can surpass the effectiveness of either alone.
Yudha’s rendition of the Triangle of Talent, augmented by AI, provides a fresh and engaging visual interpretation. Further expanding on this concept, we’ve integrated these illustrations into a short video presentation with a synthesized voiceover,remarkably, the voiceover is my voice created by ElevenLabs from a script entirely generated by ChatGPT 4.5.
Feel free to view the video using the link below and let me know your thoughts!
Story time
Once upon a time, there was a little boy named Milo. At first, Milo struggled with even simple tasks. When asked to build a tower of blocks, he felt confused and unsure (Level 1 – Useless). But Milo did not give up.
As he grew a bit older, Milo learned to follow clear instructions. His mom would tell him exactly how to stack the blocks, step by step, and he could build a tower just as she described (Level 2 – Task Monkey).
Soon, Milo discovered he could do even better! When given a puzzle, he figured out how to solve it by himself, though someone had to tell him which puzzle to solve first (Level 3 – Problem Solver).
One day, Milo realized he could help his friends solve puzzles too. He created a plan for them to work together, making sure everyone knew their job. Together, they solved puzzles faster and had more fun (Level 4 – Systems Thinker).
Finally, Milo became amazing at choosing the best puzzles to solve—the ones that mattered most. He could quickly spot problems, gather his friends, and solve them easily. Milo became a superstar! (Level 5 – Superstar).
This story is important because people who can find the right problems and solve them are the most valuable. That’s why leaders, like CEOs of companies, look for superstars like Milo. Having people who grow and learn like Milo helps their teams do great things and makes their companies successful.
