The Talent Code: Greatness Isn’t Born. It’s Grown
Description
‘Talent. You’ve either got it or you haven’t.’ Not true, actually.
In The Talent Code, award-winning journalist Daniel Coyle draws on cutting-edge research to reveal that, far from being some abstract mystical power fixed at birth, ability really can be created and nurtured.
In the process, he considers talent at work in venues as diverse as a music school in Dallas and a tennis academy near Moscow to demonstrate how the wiring of our brains can be transformed by the way we approach particular tasks. He explains what is really going on when apparently unremarkable people suddenly make a major leap forward. He reveals why some teaching methods are so much more effective than others. Above all, he shows how all of us can achieve our full potential if we set about training our brains in the right way.
Review
In The Talent Code, Daneiel Coyle examines the concept that talent is something you’re born with. He interviews prodigies across diverse disciplines—tennis, piano, chess, and others—and discovers how neuroplasticity is really the key to talent.
His overarching thesis is on the cover, “Greatness isn’t born. It’s grown,” which he does a compelling job of supporting.
Beyond this however, he also gives readers a set of clear action steps for growing their own talents in any field: whether that be mathematics, music, athletics, art, any skill at all.
The storytelling format of the book makes the tenets of operating just at the edge of challenge easy to remember, and readers may find heroes who’ve inspired them included in the story.
It’s approachable to anyone, no need for a background in neuroscience or psychology, but it can also be appreciated by those who do have a cognitive research background.
All in all, this is a book I think everyone should read, and there’s only a few of those I’ve ever come across.
I give The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle 5 out of 5 stars.