I listened to the Audio CD version of this book. That said, the author points out that you need four hours a day, six days a week, for ten years to be "world-class" at most skills. You also need a great family support system and a great coach/teacher.

I have no argument with that.

However, the book does NOT address the issue of TALENT. IF you have 100 students that ALL have:
* A great coach/teacher,
* A supportive family,
* And practice for 4hrs/6 Days/ for 10 Years ...
The author presents NO evidence that, WITHIN the 100, talent will be overrated.

In addition, there seems to be no research to explore the quality of talent. That is, do talented people find the four hours a day of practice to be easier?

And that is the rub - does talent make it easier for some to practice OR do the talented get more feedback from their practice.

If we take 100 students and force them all to the 4/6/10 grind, will some emerge better - of course.

This book does NOT address how to distinguish top performers WITHIN a group of people that have EQUAL practice. Within that group (all participants have equal practice, supportive families and coaching) will some people be MORE TALENTED ...

... YES! (as this book presents NO evidence to the contrary)

Did I need a book to tell me that practice enhances talent - no.

Talent may be outweighed when people with dissimilar amounts of practice are compared. But, I normally am comparing job candidates with EQUAL amounts of practice. Now what author?

If the author wants to prove that talent is overrated, he needs to compare people within the same level of practice.

Talent is not a sacred cow for me. I am fine if it is overrated. But this book only compares people with DISSIMILAR levels of practice. And that is a huge flaw.

Geoff Colvin has written an excellent book but the first half gives you 90% of what you are going to get from the book. The second half tries to give businesses advice on how to use the information but it basically succeeds in repeating what was already said in the first half of the book. The advice in the second part is too generic to be really useful. However, I highly recommend reading this book and "Outliers" together. These two books will help you think about excellence and genetics.

Talent Is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody ElseAnother book of degradation...unless you disregard obligations such as your family. By the time you finish this book you will be ready for suicide. Hard work is good but commitment on a life time scale is ridiculous. Variety truly is the spice of life. Trial and error is the greatest impetus for this life. The type of stress Colvin demands from our lives gives the vast majority of us no chance. It's easy to see why Denmark is the least stressed country in the world and the USA is the Prozac capitol. This book is a tale of torture to your children. No wonder the most talented artists commit suicide. Never did they stop to smell the roses, children can be pressed so hard through practice, they cannot interact with anyone. Talent is a gift maybe that is why on the very day of Galileo's death Copernicus was born. Do not believe this book....please.

This book is substantially a suspicious rehash of a major peer reviewed article. Covin and Gladwell Outliers: The Story of Success are chasing the same topic, incredibly within the same few months and referencing the same research. Albeit with different titles and stories. Covin does a good job giving credit to that author. The problems begin when Covin starts to take parts of the research and explode the number of pages dedicated to one point -deliberate practice. And while that point, deliberate practice is important, it is one of several ingredients in the making of an expert. In the paper "Making of an expert" by K. Anders Ericsson and others, Harvard Business Review, July 2007 they detail three well accepted conditions:

1. Delibrate Practice - the author sites verbatim with strong emphasizes
2. World class coaching - Important but not emphasized well
3. Enthusiastic family support - Very important and not emphasized well

And obviously the expert-to-be needs to be motivated. What is disturbing is Covin doesn't give much credit (wrongly) in terms of pages, to the support environment namely families and coaches. Ok, there are passing paragraphs but no where near the emphasis it should be according to the original researchers. Intuitively, as well as deep in all parents hearts, they know those new champions/experts had to have great parents. Think of Tiger Woods (Golf), the Mannings (NFL) and Obama to name a few. The deliberate practice condition also encompasses the 10,000 hours requirement in becoming an expert whether that is business, music or sports to name a few endeavors. This translates into roughly what I call the 4/6/10 phenomena - 4 hours a day, 6 days a week for 10 years. Taking a few weeks off a year helps recovery so its about 1000 hours per year.
Of the three conditions, enthusiastic family support seems to be the catalyst for the other two. That article is well written and easy to read. You can go to the HBR site and pick it up for $7. There are excellent peer reviewed references in that article worth reading. One of the key references is available at this site The Cambridge Handbook of Expertise and Expert Performance. It may be a little more academic but if you already have read "The making of an expert" and want more, than this is it.

You have your bashers and praisers. I'm the latter. This books is great! I remember reading his article on FORTUNE, and, till this day, I haven't forgotten it. I think about the opportunities I have missed in my youth, but, now that I think of it, I haven't missed anything. I'm putting myself to the test, and I'm taking those steps to greatness, even if it will take me years to get there. I must start someday, and that someday is...now.

Mindful, purposeful practice makes perfect.

Author Geoff Colvin of FORTUNE magazine makes a convincing case that we tend t overrate talent as a success factor. He finds others keys to success: lots of hours doing what he calls purposeful practice. His argument has implications for success in all phases of life.

Colvin's thesis is well constructed and compelling is a highly readable book. Superb! One of the best books I've read in 2008!

I am recommending this book to my son who is a college freshman and to my friends with college age kids as well...They simply MUST know this stuff!

Our country is in for a serious Depression, a real financial funk.

I hope the US Senate allocated funds in TARF for Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp, (PBGC), Medicaid and health insurers. If GM and Chrysler go Bankrupt, PBGC must pay pensions which is around 780 billion dollars.

PBGC does not provide Health and Welfare payment- health insurance. Do you have money set aside for those entities? That collapse will be around 780 billion by itself. That does not include unemployment for the auto and their suppliers which may be another 800 billion dollars.

The US senate would rather spend 1.5 trillion dollars in additional bailouts rather than fund a bridge loan for 40 million dollars. Wow, As a UM trained economist I am appalled at our Senate Leaders lack of expertise in basic economics. Our country is in for a serious Depression, a real financial funk.

You need to read, Breakin' Out of Your Financial Funk! If the Auto companies go into bankruptcy employees will need this book as we are certainly going to be in a serious financial funk and everyone will need a book to help them pick up the pieces and start again. Or hold onto the pieces.

There are some interesting ideas in this book, but it fails to take into account the factor of "luck" as part of being successful in business. The examples are exclusively with "famous" business people, and not necessarily all the professional managers that work for them.

The good aspects of the book

This book is about how YOU can become a superachiever, a superstar in your chossen field. Well, not really, it is more about how others have done it.

The book might be good for you if you already have a cristal clear idea of what you want to achieve profesionally.

What is great about this book is that it is based on a great deal of scientific research. Thus you will find the whole truth about what it really takes to achieve greatness.

Also, if you have a young kid and you would like to help him become the next superstar then this book has the magic formula -which is not really so magic. I say this because the book makes it clear that it is those who start early in life practicing in a very specific field that are more likely to achieve greatness.

The book has many fascinating examples of people that has been able to go beyond average performance. Of course the strongest point the research suggests is that you need not have special talents. Isn't that a great idea! Isn't that a great relief! No matter who you are, no matter if you have no talent at all, still you can become great!

The most fascinating example in this book is that of the Polgar's sisters. Polgar was an european scientist that decided to conduct an experiment with his children. He wrote a book about how anyone can become a genius and he decided to prove his theroy with her daugthers -hence the Polgar's sisters. After many years of very specific training the sisters went out to become the first women to hold chess grand master titles in the history of humanity!

So, with this book you can become a great achiever! The keys to stardom in any field are right here! The secrets are right here! Or are they not? Let's move on to...

The bad aspects of the book

There are different issues I found troubling:

1. The book target are those who are already commited to an activity, to a goal of greatnes. I think most people wouldn't benefit from it.

2. The research suggests that unless you started very early in life practicing what you want to become great for, then you are pretty much in a huge disadvantage since you would have to practice a great more deal than most professionals practice. Only to catch up!

It is obviously contradictory, because profesionals have been doing the activity for so long that they are trained to practice a great deal. An amateur is very unlikely to sustain that level of practice with out reaching exhaustion very quickly.

3. Another aspect that you should consider is that the info in the book can be found elsewhere. I found some of the articles from the original researchers online. So when I started reading the book I already knew almost all there was to it.

4. I saw a documentary about Susan Polgar -the chess grand master. And I think I learnt more from that documentary than from the book. Also, there seemed to be at least one incongruency in the info.

In the documentary Susana herself says that she had a library of 5,000 books, where as in the book the author says she had a library of 10,000 books. This might not be important to you, but I still had to point out that there migth be a difference of 5,000 books in the polgar sisters training. It is a huge difference.

Anyway, I think the author should have dedicated more time to the Polgar story, instead of just a couple of pages.

5. If your interest is to become better at what you do there are other books you could use that are more targeted to the average person; like "One small step can Change Your life - the Kaizen way" or "Mastery". Both are books that can help just about anyone without the extreme demands of superachievers. By the way, in my opinion both books have a more positive approach to self improvement than what I read in this book.

I really don't want to become great, I just want to enjoy the process and constantly improve my performance. It might not show but there is a sligth difference between wanting to become great just for the sake of it, and wanting to improve because you actually love your activity.

6. You know, after all why be obsesed about becoming great?! Why not just do what you like and devote your time and effort to it because you like it, and not because you just want to become known as the best.

The point I'm trying to make here is that this book might not be beneficial to people with low self-esteem.

If you had a healthy self-steem you would know life has much more to offer than just becoming "great". If you had a healthy self-steem then why in the world would you want to become "great". If you had a healthy self-steem you would know that you don't need THAT kind of success to be valuable. The only thing that should drive you is your passion for your art. Really, why should you care about greatness?

To sum up:

This book might be good for you if you are already in love with what you do and you do it to the exhaustion and you want to learn how to train better, AND if you have very specific goals AND if you are relatively young AND if you are willing to sacrifice or devote most of your time and energy to achieving that goal.

This book is not for you if you don't care about becoming "great". If you understand the differences of being successful and that of being greatly acknowledged in one field. Just think about the famous athletes that ruined their careers because they played unfarily, took drugs, attacked their competition just for the sake of wining, etc. They were people obsessed with becoming great, rather than balanced people that really respected and enjoyed their profession. You see, there is a difference between loving your profession and that of being so blinded by your obsession to become great.

Striving to become a superachiever is an area where people should be careful. Very often hidden motives underlie behind people that are too driven.

Successful people are "complete" people. They have balance in their life, they have good relationships, healthy eating habits, exercise, they enjoy an evening in nature or in art and they enjoy their profession, their practice. They are not completely obsesed with one goal, and certainly not with greatness.

Why am I saying this? Well, I have known people that are "successful" in their profession, but they use that to hide from the fact they have low self-steem, they are alone, scared, and sad.

In a certain way it makes sense, people that devote their entire life to become "famous" or "great" or "champions" or "superachievers" very often don't build healthy relationship, don't devote time to their spirit. In reality, they are not successful, because they are not really happy and because they don't have real balance in their life.

Now, that doesn't mean superachievers are not complete. I think many superstars are actually very complete persons. They have plentiful lifes. But they didn't strive for greatness. They became great because of their love for their activity, their respect for their activity and their self respect.

What I'm saying is that you shouldn't be obsessed about being a superachiever. Instead search for balance!

That's an area the author could have developed a great more deal. He should have written about the social and psychological consequences of working to become a superachiever during decades.

If you have more important things to do. If you don't have much time to devote to an activity. If you are not relatively young then you might not benefit from this book.

My advice is that you go first to Kaizen and Mastery. If after that you still feel you need to take your performance to a greater level then get this book or search for the original research articles online.

This book is profoundly important because it provides detailed research-based insight into how and why certain people attain excellence in all fields of endeavor.

The short answer is that one must work and practice quite hard for many years, ideally starting from a young age, in a deliberate way which involves continually stretching oneself. The effort is usually difficult and therefore often not fun, and so the motivation to push on must be fueled by a strong inner drive, perhaps aided by extrinsic factors such as encouragement, coaching, rewards, etc. Talent, intelligence, good memory, and other innate gifts may help, but they're not as vital as people commonly believe.

But don't let my short answer suffice, or steer you to skip reading the book. The book is rich with important details and examples which are vital to take on board - this is not one of those books where a single basic idea has unnecessarily been expanded into book length. This topic deserves book-length treatment, and Colvin has done justice to the topic. I expect to read the book again, and this time I plan to take detailed notes and write up an action plan based on the book.

Allow me to add that Colvin's writing quality is absolutely top notch; I don't really see how it could be any better. More specifically, the book is very well organized, precisely written but without excessive formality, and overall very easy to read. I finished it in about two days, and it was hard to put down.

I emphatically recommend this book. Its insights apply to every domain of life, making this book a must read for parents, teachers, students, business owners, managers, employees, artists, scientists, technical professionals, athletes, coaches - in other words, everyone!

Buy it and read it without hesitation. I plan to give this book as a gift to many people during this holiday season and beyond.

There are a few very interesting core ideas in this book, and it is helpful to have a few real-life examples such as the story about Jerry Rice, but this book is so tedious to read that I ended up skipping large sections of it, trying to find the good parts without having to wade through everything else.

It may be somewhat counter-intuitive that good performance comes more from practice than it does from genetics and years of experience, so I appreciated a few anecdotes to reinforce the key thesis of the book. But after I buy in to that thesis I really don't need to read dozens of more examples which all try to make the same point over and over again.

I suppose I was supposed to glean some small unique insight from each example. But I don't want to have to figure out what each of those little insights might be.

This book would have been much more interesting -- and probably more effective at delivering its message -- if it had been about 6 pages long. Maybe the author should have written a feature essay for the Sunday New York Times Magazine instead.

This is an interesting summary of other work on these ideas that are much more interesting. I suggest skimming it at the bookstore, writing down some of the other works the book cites and then reading these sources. Since this book is mainly a summary, it's doesn't have many applicable ideas. You'll need to go to the other books it cites in order to get real suggestions for applications. This book is a good start though.

I expect a lot more out of 200 pages of text. For anyone that's been in sports, the workforce, or pretty much any aspect of daily human life, it's really no secret that practice makes you better at a given pursuit. Practice more, and better, and you improve faster and to a greater degree. If you already understand this idea then you will waste your money buying this book.

I intended to write a review of Malcolm Galdwell's book Outliers: The Story of Success but I came across this book and I was surprised to find I like this book more (which is not to say that I don't like Outliers by the way). The book not only debugs the talent myth, the believe that talent is a dominant factor in high achievement (which Gladwell has done too in several publications). It also operationalizes the concept of deliberate practice. This concept was introduced by Anders Ericsson, a leading researcher in the field of expertise development. Colvin explains that deliberate practice can be described by these five characteristics:

1. It's designed specifically to improve performance
2. It can be repeated a lot
3. Feedback on results is continously available
4. It's highly demanding mentally
5. It isn't much fun

Deliberate practice is hard and not particularly enjoyable because it means you are focusing on improving areas in your performance that are not satisfactory. Thus, it stretches you. If you'll be able to do deliberate practice, you'll benefit by becoming better. Especially if you'll be able to keep it up for extremely long periods of time. Much research has shown that top performance in a wide array of fields is always based on an extreme amount of deliberate practice. It is hard to find a top performer in any field that has not been working extremely hard to get there. What does 'extremely hard' mean? Well, researchers Herbert Simon and Allen Newel used to say that you need at least 10 years before reaching top performance. Now, researchers have refined their estimate, saying coming up with a figure of 10000 hours. An interesting thing about deliberate practice is that its effect is cumulative. You can compare it with a road you're traveling on. Any distance you have travelled on that road counts. So, if you have started at an early age, this will lead to an advantage over someone who started later.

The book is written by a journalist, not a scholar. And it is well written and the journalist has done a good job in doing his homework. It is full of relevant references to research. It deals with the subject matter in a nuanced and informative way. Overall, it is very convincing.

If I had a say, I'd change two things in the second edition of this book. First, I'd change one section in chapter 1 in which the author talks about the abundance of financial resources. It seems a bit odd to read about that now, when this major economic crisis is hitting us. Second, I'd mention the work by Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. The authors remarks in the last chapter refer so clealry to her body of research. In such a well documented book as this is, this is an omission. One last comment: I would have liked this title better for this book: DELIBERATE PRACTICE.

CONCLUSION: a terrific and thought provoking book. I am glad I have read this. It triggers many thoughts and invites you to take action.

I intended to write a review of Malcolm Galdwell's book Outliers: The Story of Success but I came across this book and I was surprised to find I like this book more. The book not only debugs the talent myth, the believe that talent is a dominant factor in high achievement (which Gladwell has done too in several publications). It also operationalizes the concept of deliberate practice. This concept was introduced by Anders Ericsson, a leading researcher in the field of expertise development. Colvin explains that deliberate practice can be described by these five characteristics:

1. It's designed specifically to improve performance
2. It can be repeated a lot
3. Feedback on results is continously available
4. It's highly demanding mentally
5. It isn't much fun

Deliberate practice is hard and not particularly enjoyable because it means you are focusing on improving areas in your performance that are not satisfactory. Thus, it stretches you. If you'll be able to do deliberate practice, you'll benefit by becoming better. Especially if you'll be able to keep it up for extremely long periods of time. Much research has shown that top performance in a wide array of fields is always based on an extreme amount of deliberate practice. It is hard to find a top performer in any field that has not been working extremely hard to get there. What does 'extremely hard' mean? Well, researchers Herbert Simon and Allen Newel used to say that you need at least 10 years before reaching top performance. Now, researchers have refined their estimate, saying coming up with a figure of 10000 hours. An interesting thing about deliberate practice is that its effect is cumulative. You can compare it with a road you're traveling on. Any distance you have travelled on that road counts. So, if you have started at an early age, this will lead to an advantage over someone who started later.

The book is written by a journalist, not a scholar. And it is well written and the journalist has done a good job in doing his homework. It is full of relevant references to research. It deals with the subject matter in a nuanced and informative way. Overall, it is very convincing.

If I had a say, I'd change two things in the second edition of this book. First, I'd change one section in chapter 1 in which the author talks about the abundance of financial resources. It seems a bit odd to read about that now, when this major economic crisis is hitting us. Second, I'd mention the work by Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. The authors remarks in the last chapter refer so clealry to her body of research. In such a well documented book as this is, this is an omission. One last comment: I would have liked this title better for this book: DELIBERATE PRACTICE.

CONCLUSION: a terrific and thought provoking book. I am glad I have read this. It triggers many thoughts and invites you to take action.

Several years ago I saw a quote from a highly respected business leader to the effect that shelves of management books come out every year, and most are not worth reading. This one isn't either.

Colvin tells us that in field after field, people with lots of experience were no better at their jobs than those with very little. Hard to believe, and it isn't true. Yes, more experienced doctors reliably score lower on tests of medical knowledge than less experienced doctors just out of training and medical school. However, there are also journals full of evidence that "practice makes perfect" - those with years of experience at eg. surgery have better outcomes. Also, my own experience definitely proved that new computer programmers are very useful, at first.

As for talent, Colvin admits that not all researchers believe that specifically targeted innate abilities don't exist. Need more evidence - ask yourself why black athletes consistently outperform most whites in running, basketball, and football. The answer - they're bodies are different, with a difference in foot structure and possibly other areas also.

Colvin goes in so many directions that it sometimes is difficult to keep track. Focusing on business success, presumably his area of greatest interest as a Fortune editor, allows explaining some of the research difficulties of explaining business success w/o reference to talent.

1)Critical requirements vary situationally. New products eventually become commodities. The managerial skills necessary for success in these two life-cycle phases differ greatly.

2)Agreement on what "good business performance" consists of is often lacking. For example, is it growth in market share, short-term profitability, peer ratings, social responsibility, situational depending on the economic cycle, or worker ratings? All have been used, creating lots of confusion.

Eventually Colvin cites evidence that the amount of musical practice is the best predictor of musical skill. Duh! (Previously it was neophytes are better than those experienced. At still another point he cites Jack Welch's practice at managing as key to his success at G.E. - except he didn't have any, just started out managing with his chemical engineering degree and was successful from the start.) But why is it that after years and years of hard (and embarrassing) practice I still can't catch very well? Because I lack talent.

Bottom Line: "Talent is Overrated" is one of the majority of business books that aren't worth reading. Both Colvin and Malcomb Gladwell should stop wasting trees.

Geoff Colvin deals with a fascinating and worthwhile subject: How do extraordinary, world-class performers get to be so good? This is an outstanding book!

The basic argument of the book is that high level skill is achieved primarily through tons and tons of hard work over a long period of time. (In other words, I'll have to write a lot more book reviews in order to start getting more people to find my reviews "helpful".) So, rather than innate skill or some kind of mysterious "giftedness" being the cause of exceptional performance, Colvin writes, "[t]he factor that seems to explain the most about great performance is something the researchers call deliberate practice." The concept of "deliberate practice"--which is a little bit more rigorous and demanding than what might be thought of as "practice" in the more general sense--is explained with some detail in the book.

In addition to disputing the idea of some kind of special giftedness, Colvin disputes the idea of high IQ or special innate ability for memory as explanations for superior ability and achievement. In fact, his chapter that deals with the development of memory, among those who require it in their field of endeavor, was very enlightening.

"Talent Is Overrated" deals with the study of peak performance in a broad range of fields of including the arts, science, business, chess, music, writing and sports and provides interesting stories and examples of the world class achievers in the various disciplines. This is helpful because it is interesting to see that the principles of great performance apply--at least in a basic sense--in a pretty general way to all fields of endeavor.

Leaders will be interested to note that Colvin explains the application of some of the key concepts of exceptional performance to organizations rather than just looking at the matter as it applies to individuals.

Because the bottom line of great performance is identified as years of "deliberate practice", Colvin states that the "deepest question about great performance" is this: "Where Does The Passion Come From?" It's a fantastic question and I'm glad that he dealt with the issue. Why do the world class performers submit to the long, exhausting, difficult, often painful work that is required to achieve their level of mastery? Is the motivation intrinsic or extrinsic, or a little of both? That is the subject of the last chapter of the book.

I find the message of "Talent Is Overrated" to be extremely encouraging and motivating because it convincingly reports that you do not have to blessed at birth in some super-human way in order to develop exceptional skill in your field--I'm already out of luck if that's the case. This means high-level performance is possible--with a lot of hard work--even for us mere mortals.

Dan Marler
Oak Lawn, IL

This book is written to challenge the notion that high performance is either about innate talent or hard work. Colvin makes it possible for business people (and other professionals) to think for themselves rather than listen to the parade of management experts, consultants and celebrity CEOs who claim that they have the final answer about productivity and human performance. This book will help you separate the nuggets from the nonsense.

Colvin knows the latest research on expertise and much of the new neuroscience. He also knows that the research supports his thesis that deliberate practice is what really separates top performers from everybody else.

Previous reviewers have assessed the major emphases of the book, and surfaced important matters to help readers decide whether they should buy this book. Based on my own long experience as a business coach, I want to emphasize the importance of the last chapter: "Where does the passion come from?" For years managers have asked me to assess the motivations of a particular employee to ascertain whether he or she is "motivated enough" or "highly motivated"--necessary characteristics for an important project that may be a key objective of an organization or a given manager. Colvin addresses that issue in a discussion never before seen in a business book.

In that last chapter, he emphasizes the necessity of intrinsic motivation, constructive feedback and extrinsic motivation, and the "multiplier effect." The multiplier effect refers to how the very small advantage gained in some field can spark a series of events that produce a far larger advantage. In other words, success in an endeavor inherently encourages you to work for still more success. And, in spite of the frustrations of deliberate practice, that success makes the work of digging still deeper into a competency enjoyable.

This is a book that may not sell easily. It goes against the grain too much, and many of us understand the difficulty of arguing against conventional wisdom. As one respondent put it to me in a discussion about the wrongheadedness of innate intelligence, "I can't believe that. It goes against everything I've ever thought or learned. I simply reject the notion." He tuned out and turned off.

It will be a sad day if these ideas are rejected by the great unwashed.

This is an important book dealing with a subject that is just as necessary for families and the educational system as it is to businesss.

This is a great book that exposes in great detail the "talent myth" and the notion that all great achievers have superior innate intelligence. The author explores the careers of many sports, music and business greats, and concludes that these high achievers' success results from "deliberate practice," which is the studied repetition and improvement of those things in your field that you're NOT good at.

Experts and superior performers also immerse themselves totally in their "domain," which gives them a huge edge in interpreting new information. Studies show once someone has built up this deep pool of knowledge in their domain, they don't loose it. You'll get older and mental acuity will decline in every area but your domain.

To have this drive to deliberately practice and immerse yourself in your field to become truly great, which is a decade-long commitment to even get in the running, you must "know where you want to go." You'll never have this dedication if you're not dead set on your goals.

Highly recommended. Should be read with Gladwell's 2002 article "The Talent Myth," and Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.

This book is fascinating in the respect that it is simple, but so very true. When you read it, what you realize is that to become great at anything, and I do mean anything, it requires a certain persona that most of us just don't have. Also, after I had completed the book, there was this certain something that I had that I felt no one else had--a certain knowledge that I could be great at anything I wanted to become great at--it is a must read book for anyone that wants to become truly great at whatever.

Good news...Geoff Colvin provides evidence that great performance is not reserved for a pre-ordained few. Bad news...It is available to you and everyone...if you are willing to pay the price.

"What do you really believe? Do you believe you have a choice in the matter? Do you believe if you do the work, properly designed with intense focus for hours a day and years on end, your performance will grow dramatically better and eventually reach the highest levels?"

One of the fundamental questions to ask yourself is: What do I really, deeply want? This question is crucial, because deliberate practice requires a substantial investment. Colvin suggests that deliberate practice contains the following components:

It is designed specifically to improve performance
It can be repeated a lot
Feedback on results is continuously available
It is highly demanding mentally
It isn't much fun

Everyone who has achieved exceptional performance has faced tremendous challenges...there are no exceptions. Top performers make knowledge a direct objective and set goals to be an expert in their chosen field. Colvin suggest that the 10 year rule...10 years of consistent, deliberate effort... is required to be outstanding in your field.

The book provides a snapshot of the preparation time for: Jerry Rice, Tiger Woods, Mozart, world-class violinists and chess players to give you a sense for the commitment of these performers. Clearly, the time they invest is extraordinary and not for the faint of heart. Perhaps, it is easy for us to dismiss their greatness with genetic predisposition, yet their effort transcends that notion.

Their investment of time and effort allows them to develop deep domain knowledge in their fields which allows them to make finer distinctions. Their knowledge becomes integrated and connected to higher level principles, thus they know more from seeing less.

Now we have some additional evidence for what it takes to perform at the higher levels, so now we cannot easily excuse our life away...we just have to make a decision to claim our destiny!

As you accept that Talent is Overrated...the questions for you are:
What beliefs have guided your life to the present moment?
Is this what you want to achieve?
What beliefs do you need to perform at your desired level?
What do you really, really, really want?
When will you commit to taking action now?

It's about time this book was written. The author, Geoff Colvin, writes for Fortune and if you saw his piece called "What It Takes to Be Great" you know why it was such a sensation. Colvin shows that perseverence and practice are what set the truly great individuals in any endeavor apart.

But there's more. Colvin postulates that it isn't how hard you work, but how you practice that leads to greatness. It's the analysis of your progress (en route to perfection) that you can learn from your mistakes, improve and become great. The book uses ample real-world anecdotes and some scientific analysis to bolster this theories. In the end the book is an empowering look at what you can do to achieve greatness in your work and anything you put your mind to.

Another book I enjoyed deeply this week (I read a lot) and I highly recommend, though this one is based on the author's Harvard Business Review article, is The Emotional Intelligence Quick Book

It's about time this book was written. The author, Geoff Colvin, writes for Fortune and if you saw his piece called "What It Takes to Be Great" you know why it was such a sensation. Colvin shows that perseverence and practice are what set the truly great individuals in any endeavor apart.

But there's more. Colvin postulates that it isn't how hard you work, but how you practice that leads to greatness. It's the analysis of your progress (en route to perfection) that you can learn from your mistakes, improve and become great. The book uses ample real-world anecdotes and some scientific analysis to bolster this theories. In the end the book is an empowering look at what you can do to achieve greatness in your work and anything you put your mind to.

Another book I enjoyed deeply this week (I read a lot) and I highly recommend, though this one is based on the author's Harvard Business Review article, is The Emotional Intelligence Quick Book

Whenever someone use the "talent argument" one can now point this book in their direction. No more excuses, it requires focus hard work @ extended period of time if one wants to excel.

I applied this in my life and my career and although I am not a multimillionaire, yet :-) I can see myself getting better and most importantly, I enjoy my work more because I am focus on self development.

Sure I still believe that one has to have some talent to begin with but it is what one does with it that counts. I see talent as inherited trust fund, it depends on how one uses it.

I loved this book. I thought it was wonderful. The message the author presents reminded me of what I have known for years: If you want to get good at something, then practice or train yourself in a deliberate CORRECT way and you will be successful. You don't have to be born with an abundance of talent. But you need some inate ability to perform. The book is well written and includes the following 11 chapters:

1. The mystery
2. Talent is overrated
3. How smart do you have to be?
4. A better idea
5. What deliberate practice is and isn't
6. How deliberate practice works
7. Applying the principles in our lives
8. Applying the principles in our organizations
9. Performing great at innovation
10. Great performance in youth and age
11. Where does the passion come from?

I have applied what is talked about in this book in swimming, cycling, and academics. I have excelled at each and I am only just over 5'4" tall and don't have a particularly great memory. From ages 10-12 I learned to swim well and even won a few races. To this day I am still a very good swimmer - better than most. From 13 to 17 I was a competitive cyclist and even won a national championship back then. And in college I majored in accounting and soon after graduation I passed the CPA exam. Then I got into law school and passed two bar exams afer graduation.

There are lots of people who swim all the time. And they never get any good. Why? Because they are not practicing properly. There are lots of people who claim they play golf. But they suck at it. Why? Because they don't practice properly. There are many people who go to college with hopes of graduating toward the top of their class. But most fail. Why? Because they didn't go about studying properly. The list goes on and on.

Whatever I set my mind to achieve I have tried to figure out what it would take to excel at it. I try to figure out how to do "deliberate practice." And with a little research I usually can figure that out. I recommend to anyone who wants to achieve something to get a hold of this book and practice what is talks about. You won't be sorry you did. 5 stars!

I have always held that talent is a multiplier of work rather than the decisive factor in accomplishment and success. By this I mean that someone whose has a high level of talent, say a 10, and an average level of work, a 5, is going to accomplish at a level of 50. While a person of a level 7 talent who works very hard, a level 10, will outperform them at a level of 70. I have seen this borne out again and again in my life.

Geoff Colvin says that it isn't talent or hard work that are the deciding factors in achieving great performance, but a specific kind of focus when developing and practicing your skills. He calls it deliberate practice. Highly successful people not only practice a lot and work very hard at it, but they also have the ability to focus on what it is that must be practiced and how to work at it. And they can do this even though it is not particularly enjoyable and can, in fact, be painful.

Colvin argues that what we often point to as talent, say, for playing a musical instrument or any specific skill really doesn't exist. When high performers are examined there is little consistent evidence that being a prodigy is a strong predictor of later success. Even Mozart and Tiger Woods, were less about a Divine Spark and more about who their father's were, the focused training they received, and the immense amount of deliberate practice they put in. The author shows us how Jerry Rice worked six days per week during the off season to develop his abilities. Rice identified areas that mattered to his success and developed them systematically. He worked on developing his cardiovascular strength in the mornings, weight training in the afternoons, and those who joined him to see what is was like ended up feeling sick. These people tried to jump into a practice regimen that Rice had built up over years. No wonder they couldn't keep up! Deliberate practice requires building up abilities through repetition after repetition after repetition regardless of how you feel about doing it at any given time.

This repetition provides you with a level of familiarity and insight that others will not possess. While it may appear to be talent or luck, it is really based on becoming so familiar with the tasks involved and knowing at every moment what is going on. The book also takes you through how to apply it to your own life and in your business.

The multiplier idea I have long held is discussed on page 198 in very similar terms to my own. I also agree with him when he says, "What you really believe about the source of great performance thus becomes the foundation for all you will ever achieve." Colvin is honest that great achievement has a high price, a price most people are not willing to pay. However, even if you aren't aiming at greatness, you can still use these ideas to improve and accomplish more.

I think this is right. However, can I note that I think that insight to know what the right practice is and the capacity for that level of work is also a talent, is it not?

Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI

Colvin set out to answer this question: "What does great performance require?" In this volume, he shares several insights generated by hundreds of research studies whose major conclusions offer what seem to be several counterintuitive perspectives on what is frequently referred to as "talent." (See Pages 6-7.) In this context, I am reminded of Thomas Edison's observation that "vision without execution is hallucination." If Colvin were asked to paraphrase that to indicate his own purposes in this book, my guess (only a guess) is that his response would be, "Talent without deliberate practice is latent" and agrees with Darrell Royal that "potential" means "you ain't done it yet." In other words, there would be no great performances in any field (e.g. business, theatre, dance, symphonic music, athletics, science, mathematics, entertainment, exploration) without those who have, through deliberate practice developed the requisite abilities.

It occurs to me that, however different they may be in almost all other respects, athletes such as Cynthia Cooper, Roger Federer, Michael Jordan, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Lorena Ochoa, Candace Parker, Michael Phelps, Vijay Singh, and Tiger Woods "make it look so easy" in competition because their preparation is so focused, rigorous, and thorough. Obviously, they do not win every game, match, tournament, etc. Colvin's point (and I agree) is that all great performers "make it look so easy" because of their commitment to deliberate practice, often for several years before their first victory. In fact, Colvin cites a "ten-year rule" widely endorsed in chess circles (attributed to Herbert Simon and William Chase) that "no one seemed to reach the top ranks of chess players without a decade or so of intensive study, and some required much more time." The same could also be said of "overnight sensations" who struggled for years to prepare for their "big break" on Broadway or in Hollywood.

Colvin duly acknowledges that deliberate practice "is a large concept, and to say that it explains everything would be simplistic and reductive." Colvin goes on to say, "Critical questions immediately present themselves: What exactly needs to be practiced? Precisely how? Which specific skills or other assets must be acquired? The research has revealed answers that generalize quite well across a wide range of fields." Even after committing all of my time and attention to several years of deliberate practice, under the direct supervision of the best instructor (e.g. Hank Haney, Butch Harman, or David Leadbetter) I probably could not reduce my handicap to zero but I could lower it under those conditions. Colvin's insights offer a reassurance that almost anyone's performance can be improved, sometimes substantially, even if it isn't world-class. Talent is overrated if it is perceived to be the most important factor. It isn't. In fact, talent does not exist unless and until it is developed...and the only way to develop it is (you guessed it) with deliberate practice. When Ben Hogan was asked the "secret" to playing great golf, he replied, "It's in the dirt."

Others have their reasons for thinking so highly of this book. Here are three of mine. First, Colvin's observations and suggestions are research-driven rather than based almost entirely on theories developed in isolation from real-world phenomena. He commits sufficient attention to identifying the core components of great performance but focuses most of his narrative to explaining how almost anyone can improve her or his own performance. He reveals himself to be both an empiricist as he shares what he has observed and experienced and a pragmatist who is curious to know what works, what doesn't, and why. I also appreciate Colvin's repudiation of the most common misconceptions about the various dimensions of talent. For example, that "is innate; you're born with it, and if you're not born with it, you can't acquire it." Many people still believe that Mozart was born with so much talent that he required very little (if any) development. In fact, according to Alex Ross, "Mozart became Mozart by working furiously hard" as did all others discussed, including Jack Welch, David Ogilvy, Warren Buffett, Robert Rubin, Jerry Rice, Chris Rock, and Benjamin Franklin. Some were prodigies but most were late-bloomers and each followed a significantly different process of development. About all they shared in common is their commitment to continuous self-improvement through deliberate practice.

Here's another reason I hold this book in such high regard. Throughout his narrative, Colvin inserts clusters of insights and recommendations that literally anyone can consider and then act upon to improve her or his individual performance as well as helping to improve the performance of a team of which she or he is a member. For example:

1. Attributes of deliberate practice (Pages 66-72)
2. What top performers perceive that others do not notice (Pages 89-94)
3. Benefits of having a "rich mental model"(Pages 123-124)
4. Rules for peak performance that "elite" organizations follow (Pages 128-136)
5. Misconceptions about innovation and creativity (Pages 149-151)
6. How innovators become great (Pages 159-161)
7. How to make organizations innovative (Pages 162-166)
8. What homes can teach organizations (Pages 172-175)
9. The "drivers" of great performance (Pages 187-193)
10. How some organizations "blow it" (Pages 194-198)

Corbin provides a wealth of research-driven information that he has rigorously examined and he also draws upon his own extensive and direct experience with all manner of organizations and their C-level executives. Throughout his narrative, with great skill, he sustains a personal rapport with his reader. It is therefore appropriate that, in the final chapter, he invokes direct address and poses a series of questions. "What would cause you to do the enormous work necessary to be a top-performing CEO, Wall Street trader, jazz, pianist, courtroom lawyer, or anything else? Would anything? The answer depends on your answers to two basic questions: What do you really want? And what do you really believe? What you want - really want - is fundamental because deliberate practice is a heavy investment." Corbin has provided all the evidence anyone needs to answer those two questions that, in fact, serve as a challenge.

Colvin leaves no doubt that by understanding how a few become great, anyone can become better...and that includes his reader. This reader is now convinced that talent is a process that "grows," not a pre-determined set of skills. Also, that deliberate practice "hurts but it works." Long ago, Henry Ford said, "Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right." It would be "tragically constraining," Colvin asserts, for anyone to lack sufficient self-confidence because "what the evidence shouts most loudly is striking, liberating news: That great performance is not reserved for a preordained few. It is available to you and to everyone."