Little Book of Talent by Daniel Coyle, (11) Tip #11, Notes

Post date: Oct 11, 2018 12:19:08 PM

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TIP #11 DON’T FALL FOR THE PRODIGY MYTH

Early success turns out to be a weak predictor of long-term success. Many top performers are overlooked early on, then grow quietly into stars. Dr. Carol Dweck of Stanford, “The praise and attention prodigies receive lead them to instinctively protect their “magical” status by taking fewer risks, which eventually slows their learning. Talent hotbeds are not built on identifying talent, but on constructing it, day by day. They are not overly impressed by precociousness and do not pretend to know who will succeed. “One of the most unfortunate things I see when identifying youth players is the girl who is told over the years how great she is. By the time she’s a high school freshman, she starts to believe it. By her senior year, she’s fizzled out. Then there’s her counterpart: a girl waiting in the wings, who quietly and with determination decides she’s going to make something of herself. Invariably, this humble, hardworking girl is the one who becomes the real player.” If you have early success, do your best to ignore the praise and keep pushing yourself to the edges of your ability, where improvement happens. If you don’t have early success, don’t quit. Instead, treat your early efforts as experiments, not as verdicts.