Talent Is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else
by: Geoff Colvin
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Product Description:
Expanding on a landmark cover story in Fortune, a top journalist debunks the myths of exceptional performance.
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 doesnt 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 businessnegotiating deals, evaluating financial statements, and all the restobey 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 Colvins practical advice, will change the way you think about your job and careerand will inspire you to achieve more in all you do.
Expanding on a landmark cover story in Fortune, a top journalist debunks the myths of exceptional performance.
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 doesnt 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 businessnegotiating deals, evaluating financial statements, and all the restobey 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 Colvins practical advice, will change the way you think about your job and careerand will inspire you to achieve more in all you do.
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: 
- A Perfect Gift for Young People in Your Life
I'd heard about this book from a David Brooks column in the New York Times. I'm so glad I did! Mr. Colvin has assembled a mammoth amount of research to show that those who succeed (barring physical or mental disabilities) can accomplish almost anything they seek to do. This isn't some fluff book about "believe in yourself." It's backed up with facts, statistics, and pokes holes in some of the most famous "natural gift" stories we always hear about. This is one of the best books I've read in a long ... Read More
Rating: - Overall very good
Overall, I felt this book was a good read, well organized, and fairly easy to understand.The chapters were well divided and the overall message of the book was good.However, I felt that more could have been given on the implementation of "deliberate practice" from both a personal and organizational point of view.
Rating: - True to my experience
This book has some very insightful information that quite frankly is very consistent with my own experience and that which I have observed in my children and those who have reported to me.If you are in a position of training and mentoring others, it is a recommended read.
PYB
Construction Manager
Rating: - Perfect!!
This book focuses on what everyone needs to hear which is, "Increased effort on the right behaviors equals increased success."The world today get's so focused on that they don't have the talent to be as good as someone else. This book gave me the wake up call that I needed.Now, I believe more than ever that I just need to ramp up my focused effort!!!
Jason Forrest
President
ShoreSelect
www.shoreselect.com
www.jasonforrestspeaker.com
Rating: - Practice
Geoff Colvin expanded his Fortune article, "What It Takes to Be Great," into an evidence-based book titled, Talent Is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else. Colvin renounces the notion that leaders are born with innate talent, and shows how disciplined forms of deliberate practice lead to remarkable success. The practice he describes may not be the practice that many of us follow, but his presentation is compelling about how the right kind of repetitive practice ... Read More
- A Perfect Gift for Young People in Your LifeI'd heard about this book from a David Brooks column in the New York Times. I'm so glad I did! Mr. Colvin has assembled a mammoth amount of research to show that those who succeed (barring physical or mental disabilities) can accomplish almost anything they seek to do. This isn't some fluff book about "believe in yourself." It's backed up with facts, statistics, and pokes holes in some of the most famous "natural gift" stories we always hear about. This is one of the best books I've read in a long ... Read More
- Overall very goodOverall, I felt this book was a good read, well organized, and fairly easy to understand.The chapters were well divided and the overall message of the book was good.However, I felt that more could have been given on the implementation of "deliberate practice" from both a personal and organizational point of view.
- True to my experienceThis book has some very insightful information that quite frankly is very consistent with my own experience and that which I have observed in my children and those who have reported to me.If you are in a position of training and mentoring others, it is a recommended read.
PYB
Construction Manager
- Perfect!!This book focuses on what everyone needs to hear which is, "Increased effort on the right behaviors equals increased success."The world today get's so focused on that they don't have the talent to be as good as someone else. This book gave me the wake up call that I needed.Now, I believe more than ever that I just need to ramp up my focused effort!!!
Jason Forrest
President
ShoreSelect
www.shoreselect.com
www.jasonforrestspeaker.com
- PracticeGeoff Colvin expanded his Fortune article, "What It Takes to Be Great," into an evidence-based book titled, Talent Is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else. Colvin renounces the notion that leaders are born with innate talent, and shows how disciplined forms of deliberate practice lead to remarkable success. The practice he describes may not be the practice that many of us follow, but his presentation is compelling about how the right kind of repetitive practice ... Read More
