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

What if everything you know about raw talent, hard work, and great performance is all wrong?  The odds are that few, if any, of the people around you are truly great at what they do.  But why aren't they?

It can't be because they aren't working hard enough.  We all know plenty of hard workers, and some people have been doing the same job for decades.  Why isn't that enough to make them great?

Another possibility is that the elite possess an innate talent for excelling in their field.  We assume that Mozart was born with an astounding gift for music, and that Warren Buffett carries the gene for making brilliant investments.  The trouble is, scientific evidence doesn't support the theory that specific natural talents make great performers, and such talents may not even exist.

So what's the real solution to the mystery of high performance?  As explained in our summary of Talent is Overrated, by Fortune magazine senior editor at large Geoff Colvin, both the hard work and natural talent theories are wrong.  What really makes all the difference is a specific kind of effort that few of us pursue when we're practicing golf or piano or stockpicking.

Based on a wide array of scientific research, this summary shares the secrets of extraordinary performance and reveals how you can apply these principles to your life and your work