I thought I was buying the Outliers book but somehow ended up with this one... Seems to be similar sort of arguments. Essentially people aren't born with talent...anyone can be a top performer... it mostly requires a minimum level of intelligence and enormous amount of "deliberate practice". Starting early in life gives many an advantage that others cannot compete with as ability to devote oneself diminishes later in life due to other responsibilities
Many people spend an enormous amount of time on particular jobs or interests but don't improve much because they don't conduct deliberate practice. Deliberate practice is characterized by several elements:
1. it is an activity specifically designed to improve performance, often with a teachers help;
2. it can be repeated a lot;
3. feedback on results is continuously available;
4. it is highly demanding mentally, whether the activity is intellectual (chess) or physical such as sports;
5. It isn't much fun.
Another element necessary for top performance is to have an extensive body of knowledge of the chosen field. They tell the story of a family of top chess players with a library of 10,000 chess books.
The book later deviates to a discussion of innovation and finally ends with motivational issues as to how one becomes motivated enough to make the enormous effort required to be a top performer today. He also notes that many top performers also suffer in many other aspects of their life. There is no free lunch.
So supposedly through deliberate practice anyone can improve their performance even if they don't want to make the commitment to be a top performer...though they could or at least their younger children could be top performers. An interesting easy read...
