Book Titles

Talent is Overrated
What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else

By Geoff Colvin

Year Published: 2008
ISBN-13: 978-1-59184-224-8
Categories: Achievement, Skills, Talent

204 Quotes Found

Quote Image Quote Page Number

Talent is Overrated:

Culture change starts at the top. As long as those C-level executives think the culture is fine, it will never change.

163

Talent is Overrated:

Leaders exhort the troops to be innovative, but no one understands clearly what that means.

164

Talent is Overrated:

…on creative tasks in particular, some research suggests that people perform more innovatively when they are offered no extrinsic rewards; offering them a reward can actually reduce their creativity.

164

Talent is Overrated:

People who are internally driven to create do seem more creative than those who are just doing it for the money.

164

Talent is Overrated:

Understanding where innovation comes from is particularly important because we tend to believe deeply that this type of performance, even more than others, is a mysterious gift.

165

Talent is Overrated:

What makes the biggest difference is the willingness to go through the demanding process of acquiring that knowledge over time.

165

Talent is Overrated:

Wanting to achieve mastering of a field, committing to the long, hard work of achieving it, and then intending to innovate – that’s how it happens.

165

Talent is Overrated:

The heavy burden of the evidence is that creativity is much more available to us than we think.

165

Talent is Overrated:

…one of the most consistent findings in the research is that nobody makes the journey alone.

167

Talent is Overrated:

Knowledge is the foundation of great performance, and in fields where important advances are being made continually, mastering the accumulated knowledge takes longer all the time.

169