Talent Is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else

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Nobel prize winners, for example, are now 6 years older on average, when they make their scientific breakthrough, as they were 100 years ago. I read this as a primer to the study of expertise, which is something I'd like to learn more about academically. So my rating of 3 stars is more a reflection of my intrinsic interest in the topic than the quality of the book. As a piece of writing and reporting, I'd put it at 2 stars--Colvin is at his best when he is explaining Anders Ericsson's research, but a bit out of his depth when he tries to draw independent conclusions. Woods would often practice with a purpose, setting specific goals for each practice session. He would work on his swing, his putting, and his mental game, constantly seeking to improve and refine his skills. He would also study his competitors and analyze their strengths and weaknesses to gain a competitive edge.

Give your brain the right kind of training – for example by making it do 2 things at once – and plasticity will increase in the regions that normally show the greatest atrophy in years. Some of the strongest responses have come from parents, many of whom have said, “I want my kids to read this book.” It has become a popular graduation gift.

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It isn't general abilities such as intelligence and memory. The research finds that in many fields the relation between intelligence and performance is weak or nonexistent; people with modest IQs sometimes perform outstandingly while people with high IQs sometimes don't get past mediocrity. Memory seems clearly to be acquired. Negatives: chapter 10 promises to look at "why" some people accept to go through terrible training processes and most people don't, but it doesn't even scratch the surface. There could be a gene that determines the willingness to excel, or it could be that you get that drive while living your life. Truth is, nobody will know until we better understand how the brain works. Also, the author never seems to have any understanding or empathy at all for the majority of human beings, who normally get into comfortable daily patterns and dont give a crap about constant learning and achieving excellence. A marvellous exposition on the realities of motivation and excellence. Colvin masterfully highlights how exceptional performers are distinct from average ones. Many people often use the excuse of talent as a foundation for excellence and Colvin explains how this is simply not the case. He argues that exceptional performance is achieved by deliberate practice - practice which forces one outside of their comfort zone. Though it sounds straightforward, there are some caveats to this form of practice. It will require: intense concentration, a mentor and finally an individual who must be willing to exhaust their time and ego. The world is smaller and millions of workers in developed countries are competing for jobs with workers all over the world.

Deliberate Practice has been specially designed to increase performance. Designed being the keyword. I found out in the process of reading this book that much of what we call practice are actually activities that don’t have any effect. Most times this deliberate practice is designed by teachers, mentors, or some others that possess some superior knowledge. The author Geoff started by dispelling two myths that we have considered as secrets to great performance. For examples, studies of world-class musicians showed that the best performers showed no particular signs of excelling earlier in life, nor any ability to acquire skills faster. Benjamin Franklin would rewrite spectator essays in verse. Then after he had forgotten them he would take his versified essays and rewrite them in prose again comparing his efforts with the original. Put yourself in a position where you need to practice for a skill-based activity that you care so much, such as basketball. What is your daily routine?

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Solitary practise was number 1 with a bullet. (The game is won or lost far away from witnesses as Muhammad Ali once said). They all knew it but they didn’t all do it. Though the violinists understood the importance of practise alone, the amount of time the actual groups practised alone differed dramatically. The top 2 groups the best and better violinists, practised by themselves about 23 hours a week on average. The third group the good violinists practised by themselves only 9 hours a week. We can’t disregard its influence as being among the leading factors that will build our career arc, but it is ignorant to say that your future depends strictly on it. Have you ever found yourself in awe of someone's extraordinary talent? Maybe it was a musician effortlessly playing complex melodies or an athlete effortlessly winning championships, leaving you wondering how they achieved such remarkable skills. It's easy to attribute such exceptional abilities to innate talent, assuming that these individuals were simply born with a gift that sets them apart from the rest of us. However, what if I told you that there's a different theory that challenges this conventional wisdom? In his groundbreaking book "Talent is Overrated," Geoff Colvin explores the notion that true greatness is not solely the result of natural born talent, but rather a product of focused practice and deliberate learning. A continuation of the discussion I first read about in Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers: The Story Of Success - are high-achieving performers naturally talented or is it the result of hard work? Talent Is Overrated sides with Gladwell in that hard work is the defining bit and pure, native talent is truly hard to find, but it goes farther in examining the type of hard work necessary to produce greatness, specifically, "deliberate practice": identifying weak areas and following a comprehensive plan to improve those weaknesses and improve overall performance. Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4P 2Y3 (a division of Pearson