Genius or Hard Work?

November 30th, 2010

What comes first, genius or hard work? Andrew Robinson’s new book, Sudden Genius: The Gradual Path to Creative Breakthroughs concludes that creative genius is “the work of human grit, not the product of superhuman grace.” But he rejects the theory propagated by Gladwell and created by K. Anders Ericsson, known as the 10,000 hour or 10 year rule – a theory that basically discredits genius.

The author of this recent WSJ article on the topic, cites evidence to support Gladwell and Ericsson – e.g., Mozart. Mozart’s father was a famous music teacher and composer and began teaching Mozart before he was four years old.

But then contradicts Gladwell and Ericsson with the example of Mozart’s older sister, also a gifted pianist taught by their father, but failed to become a famous composer. He says, “What stopped her? The simplest explanation is also the most persuasive one: He [Mozart] had something to say and she didn’t. Or, to put it even more bluntly, he was a genius and she wasn’t.”

I think he hits the right note, but what I heard is this – genius is really about having something to say and only hard work makes sure you’re heard.

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When Choice Jams You Up

November 29th, 2010

Sheena Iyengar’s The Art of Choosing details her research on decision-making processes and the role of choice. Turns out that having a wide range of options does not necessarily make humans happier.

She designed the Draeger’s Market experiment where shoppers were confronted by two jam-tasting kiosks: one with 24 different types and the other with 6 types. The kiosk with only 6 types of jams attracted fewer shoppers than the other kiosk, but ten times as many buyers.

She says, “Cognitively, we just have a harder time doing the math, comparing and contrasting so many different prospects.” She also learned in her research that there are conditions under which you would do better to have others choose for you than choose for yourself.

Something, I’d say, marketers have known for years. Now there’s research to support the madness of mad men.

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Books in 5 Quotes: Martha Beck

November 29th, 2010

Finding Your North Star by Martha Beck
Martha Beck’s seminal tome on how to find the life you were meant to live. In it, she covers the four stages of discovery and renewal that mark every person’s journey in life. She calls them Square one: death and rebirth; Square two: dreaming and scheming; Square three: the hero’s saga; and Square four: the promised land.

Her book in Five Quotes:
1. “Teaching your social self to pay attention when your essential self says ‘no’ is the most basic way to reconnect the two sides of your personality.”

2. “The feeling of choked hostility, or numb depression or nauseated helplessness is a sure sign you’re steering away from your North Star, toward a life you were not meant to live. When you feel it, you must change course.”

3. “At some point, almost all my clients tell me they don’t know what they want, and it’s never true. Part of you – your essential self – knows your own desires at every moment of every day (even when the message is a contented ‘I want exactly what I have, thank you’). Anytime you think you don’t know what you want, it’s because your social self has decided you shouldn’t want it.”

4. “The rule is to follow your desire. If fear and desire give the same instructions, run away. If fear and desire give opposite instructions, feel your fear and stand your ground.”

5. “No one but you has the ability to find your own North Star and no one but you has the power to keep you from finding it. No one.”

Finding Your Own North Star: Claiming the Life You Were Meant to Live

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