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Education Innovation Reading

Latest Read: The Sports Gene

The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance by David Epstein. He is currently an investigative reporter at ProPublica. Previously David was a senior writer at Sports Illustrated.

The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance by David Epstein

I recently read Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World and found David providing a many good insights

The Sports Gene is exploring factors that certainly influence performance of top athletes. David in fact, begins this book by telling a story of a professional female softball team challenging a MLB baseball team to a softball game. As a pitcher approaches the mound, the story indicates the entire softball team already knows no MLB player will be able to hit her pitches. And they are correct. While it certainly impressive, David indicates that training and subconscious cues (visual acuity) is the true reason.

The opening chapters furthermore provide a counter view to Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers: The Story of Success. David’s position is that Malcolm has simplified “the 10,000 hour “rule” against athletes who hold gifts to excel in sports via genetics.

Furthermore, David does convey throughout the book that each athlete can only excel in the sport that best matches their genetic makeup. Perhaps the stories that coaches are able to detect when to guide an athlete into a specific sport where their natural talent will ensure success.

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Education Innovation Reading

Latest Read: The Talent Code

The Talent Code Greatness Isn’t Born. It’s Grown. Here’s How by Daniel Coyle. Daniel is the author of The Culture Code, a New York Times bestseller. He is also a contributing editor for Outside Magazine.

The Talent Code Greatness Isn’t Born. It’s Grown. Here’s How by Daniel Coyle

Is there a secret formula to gaining talent? Daniel is sharing with readers and probably more specifically parents, coaches, and companies insights to maximize talent.

In fact, the lessons include future MLB players developed in the Caribbean, and even a music academy in upstate New York. Daniel’s story outlines how these key elements can work within your brain. However there is an element that you must have a gift and certainly the grit to achieve new levels of performance.

Myelin, is a microscopic neural substance that adds vast amounts of speed and accuracy to your movement and thought. However, this is no miracle cure, take a pill solution. In fact, scientists have are beginning to view myelin as type of ‘holy grail’ and foundation for various types of success.

Daniel also identifies the three key elements that will allow you to develop your gifts and optimize your performance. Daniel relays some the new research on neurology. Added to this is data from geographic locations to more accurately identify three elements that are driving success:

Categories
Education Innovation Reading

Latest Read: The Formula

The Formula: The Universal Laws of Success by Albert-Laszlo Barabasi. He is a former physics professor at the University of Notre Dame. Today Albert is the Director of Northeastern University’s Center for Complex Network Research (CCNR) associate member of the Center of Cancer Systems Biology (CCSB) at the Dana–Farber Cancer Institute and visiting professor at the Center for Network Science at Central European University.

The Formula: The Universal Laws of Success by Albert-László Barabási

He introduced in 1999 the concept of scale-free networks and proposed the Barabási–Albert model to explain their widespread emergence in natural, technological and social systems, from the cellular telephone to the World Wide Web or online communities.

Surprising to realize 13 years ago I was reading his book Linked: How Everything Is Connected to Everything Else and What It Means. Link certainly proved very thought provoking. It has aged well since 2008. Based upon that experience I quickly read his followup Bursts: The Hidden Pattern Behind Everything We Do in 2010.

Albert addresses how you can now quantify success. This will differ obviously across markets adn professions, but the ties linking them together are quite interesting. There is a building block of his expertise in networks.

He devotes a chapter for each of his defined universal laws of success.

Performance drives success, but when performance can’t be measured, networks drive success.

In athletics networks will not help you. If you win the US Open Tennis championship it will not matter who you know. Your success will drive instant recognition.

Yet, one focus of Chapter 1 is the Red Barron who remains the most famous World War I fighter pilot. Yet, René Fonck a French pilot actually scored more kills. However grocery stores today have Red Barron pizza. There are Red Barron 3D computer games. Even Charlie Brown, the most famous children’s cartoon holds the Red Barron as a character for Snoopy. Performance truly drives success.