Just how good of a job do you need to do to get recognized? Last weekend, the Washington Post ran a story about an experiment they conducted that might answer this question.

On the morning of January 12, the Washington Post sent the world-renowned violinist Joshua Bell into a Metro station to spend an hour playing for passers-by. During the hour-long performance, Bell performed a handful of the greatest classical pieces ever written. Their experiment: during the busy morning commute and far from normal context, would beauty transcend? Would the combined genius of Bell’s performance and some of the greatest compositions ever written be recognized by morning commuters? Would they stop and listen? Would they reach into their wallets and show recognition through financial contribution?

“The acoustics proved surprisingly kind. Though the arcade is of utilitarian design, a buffer between the Metro escalator and the outdoors, it somehow caught the sound and bounced it back round and resonant.”

The result: of the 1,097 people that passed by Bell during his performance, only a handful were drawn to his music. He received a total of $32.17 in tips. Ironically, every single child that passed by attempted to stop and listen, only to be hastened on by their parents.

“A middle-age man altered his gait for a split second, turning his head to notice that there seemed to be some guy playing music. Yes, the man kept walking, but it was something.”

So back to our question: Just how good of a job do you need to do to get recognized? If we look at Joshua Bell’s performance in the Metro station, we see that without the right promotion or in the wrong context, even genius can go completely unrecognized. We know that when performing in a concert hall, Bell gets the undivided attention of thousands. But left to stand on their own, without the support of proper promotion or the reinforcement of the right context, his skills went unnoticed.

Don’t let this happen to you. No matter how good a job you do, like Bell, if you do not position yourself correctly in your career, surround your skills with the right context, and promote yourself properly, you can expect your job to go virtually unnoticed.

“At a music hall, I’ll get upset if someone coughs or if someone’s cellphone goes off. But here, my expectations quickly diminished. I started to appreciate any acknowledgment, even a slight glance up.”

What do you need to do to make sure your talents get recognized?

Listen to Joshua Bell’s complete January 12 performance in the DC Metro Station.

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