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    Talent is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else
    Unavailable
    Talent is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else
    Unavailable
    Talent is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else
    Audiobook7 hours

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

    Written by Geoff Colvin

    Narrated by David Drummond

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    One of the most popular Fortune articles in many years was a cover story called "What It Takes to Be Great." Geoff Colvin offered new evidence that top performers in any field-from Tiger Woods and Winston Churchill to Warren Buffett and Jack Welch-are not determined by their inborn talents. Greatness doesn't come from DNA but from practice and perseverance honed over decades.



    And not just plain old hard work, like your grandmother might have advocated, but a very specific kind of work. The key is how you practice, how you analyze the results of your progress and learn from your mistakes, that enables you to achieve greatness.



    Now Colvin has expanded his article with much more scientific background and real-world examples. He shows that the skills of business-negotiating deals, evaluating financial statements, and all the rest-obey the principles that lead to greatness, so that anyone can get better at them with the right kind of effort. Even the hardest decisions and interactions can be systematically improved.



    This new mind-set, combined with Colvin's practical advice, will change the way you think about your job and career-and will inspire you to achieve more in all you do.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Audio
    Release dateOct 30, 2008
    ISBN9781400178711
    Unavailable
    Talent is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else

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    Reviews for Talent is Overrated

    4/5

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    • 2/5
      Narrated by David Drummond. Author Colvin argues that no one such as Tiger Woods is born to be a world-class performer. Such talent does not come out of the blue but rather through deliberate practice and acquired knowledge of one's domain. Mentoring, encouragement and taking on challenging tasks and skills are also part of adding to one's performance. He cites research studies to support his theory although he couldn't quite answer why some very young toddlers fixate on an activity and do well in it. He discusses also how to apply his theory in the workplace. Although interesting, it was difficult for me to follow while in the gym. No more business books during my workout!
    • 4/5
      Deliberate practice is not "normal" for many activities.
    • 5/5
      A fantastic book, especially the first three-fourths. It's completely counterintuitive, but innate talent really does appear to be overrated. It seems that 'deliberate practice' is much, much more important than whatever we are born with. The author shows that even Mozart and Tiger Woods, who are frequently seen as having been born with their amazing abilities, actually developed their abilities through hard work and passion (meaning that high-abilities are open to everyone). A very eye-opening book that everyone should read.
    • 4/5
      Insightful analysis of excellence and excellent performance in any field. The point of the book is in the title: the concept of "innate talent", when it comes to great performance, is overrated in our society, because the number 1 element that generates great performance is something else. Taking the term from a paper published years ago by someone else, the author identifies this "holy grail" of excellence in "deliberate performance", that means: whoever is ready to spend more time than the others outside of his comfort zone, and work constantly hard at improving his skills, will eventually excel. Perfect example, even though not quoted by this book, is Jiro from "Jiro's dream of sushi", a documentary about the pursuit of excellence.
      I felt the concept could have been presented in less chapters and with less words, but I do think this book goes beyond the usual "et voilà: here is common sense dressed up as a great new discovery" business books (99% of them). It's not just "hard work" that generates the best performances, it's something more specific, deliberate, and painful.
      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.
      However, the liberating principle by which virtually anyone can achieve excellent performance is a breath of fresh air, in a time when still too many people, while watching their favorite NBA or football player on TV, turn around and say to their kids "Wow, that guy is a genius! Why didn't God give those skills to your daddy instead?? We would be millionaires now!".
    • 5/5
      My husband read this. I heard a lot of buzz about it on the radio (I think every show on NPR interviewed Colvin). I finally picked it up, and I was not disappointed. Colvin clearly outlines why the prevailing ideas about talent aren't supported by research and what ideas (ie, deliberate practice) are. His ideas help me understand how I might set about achieving my personal goals as well as how I might organize our homeschooling practice to give my daughter the best opportunity to excel in her field of interest. I found this book informative, well-researched, inspiring, and realistic (he outlines the drawbacks of pursuing greatness as well as the positives).
    • 4/5
      Left me with a little bit of a chicken vs. egg thought... is talent really inherited intrinsic motivation and adaptability to the skill, or is this intrinsic motivation actually nurtured?
    • 4/5
      Offers an interesting interpretation of how people become successful, and what people to in order to practice in their given field effectively.
    • 5/5
      Outliers meets the concept of deliberate practice in this book by Geoff Colvin. Not only is the work an examination of why some people achieve and maintain greatness in their field, but it also argues that the concept of natural talent is limiting in that it closes off avenues of exploration for those not deemed "naturally talented." Colvin avoids slipping into the trite equation of "hard work equals greatness", though, by exploring the psychological factors that motivate people to difficult and deliberate practice in the first place. While some might object to the idea that few, if any, can lay claim to the spark of "natural talent," the message I came away with was much more positive: that greatness is truly within anyone's grasp.
    • 4/5
      An interesting look at excellence. Colvin made clear that pushing yourself in areas of your selected expertise or "domain" where you need work is the way you become better at what you do and that memory can be expanded. All by hard work.