Being the heirs of
the Judeo-Christian tradition, we Westerners conceive of talent as a divine gift
stemming perhaps from the Parable of the talents in Matthew. It may come to a
surprise that talents, in the modern sense of the word, have a dominating component
of behind-the-scenes thought & effort.
In Talent is
Overrated, Colby makes a quite convincing case that talent is not the result of
luck or grace but rather from directed effort towards a goal. In the first four
chapters he examines the evidence bringing many specific cases to bear, such
like that of Mozart, and puts forth an alternate hypothesis to the gift/luck
scheme that, in its core, consists of conscious, deliberate practice.
Once he has
convinced the reader he minutely looks at the specific components that makes
talent happen in chapters 5-7 and, what may be the best part, how to do that for oneself. These chapters warrant careful combing. For
these I'd recommend have take pencil & paper close at hand to unearth all the
treasures.
The application
doesn't end with the individual as Colby expands the framework to include
organizations. In chapter 8 he shows that this can be done and what steps might
be necessary to incorporate the framework to larger scale entities.
On the closing
chapters he addresses some miscellaneous topics, such as creativitity &
innovation, youth & age and the sources of passion.
For someone who
simply wants to get better at something or excel at top levels or who coaches
someone else on physical or mental skills, this book might refocus your efforts
for the better or reinforce what you already believe works.
If you're in a
hurry, some of the very same concepts, but without the application component,
are explored in the Scientific American July 2006 cover article, Secrets of the Expert Mind by Phillip E. Ross.
Now, If you want an even deeper understanding on how this stuff works there is
The Mind And the Brain by Sawyer. The Willpower Instinct is also a good
companion to any of these.
