Department of English

National University of Modern Languages,

Islamabad

Assignment

Topic: Book Review of “ Talent Is Overrated: What Really Separates

World‑Class Performers”
Book by Geoffrey Colvin
Subject: Communication and Presentation Skills
Submitted By: Muhammad Danyal Khan
Submitted To: Sir Akhtar Qazi
Program: BS English
Semester: 2nd
Section: C
Author: Geoffrey Colvin
Genre: Self-help book / Motivational
Originally published: October 2008
File Size: 598 KB; Pages: 228, 11 Chapters with Acknowledgments,
Sources and Index.

Book Review of “ Talent Is Overrated: What Really Separates

World‑Class Performers”
In this thoughtful and well-written book, Geoff Colvin, Editor at Fortune Magazine, challenges
these and other basic assumptions we have about world-class performance in business and sports.
And by doing so, he offers a journey into the physics of “performance excellence” – with the
democratic promise that some part of that excellence might be available to us all.
Colvin employs some ground-breaking research and data to question the “natural talent”
or “hard work” schools of thought about world-class performance. He suggests that something
else, perhaps startling at first but actually quite intuitive, is at play in a critical way. And it’s not
special intelligence or memory or experience or in-born genetics. Rather, it is something he calls
“deliberate practice”.
“Landing on your butt twenty thousand times is where great performance comes
from.”
-Geoff Colvin Page 188, Chapter 11 (Where does great performance come from?) (Explaining
that Japanese figure skater Shizuka Arakawa’s road to Gold Medal performance at the 2006
Winter Olympics required painful and massive practice designed to push her limits, powered
only by her passion)
What made Mozart, Tiger Woods, Jerry Rice, Chris Rock and other world-class
performers reach their levels of excellence? Most would say “natural talent” or “hard work”. But
is that really true?
“Deliberate practice” is a methodology carefully designed to constantly push a performer
past his usual and tired limits – to stretch oneself – into what Colvin describes as the “learning
zone” which is a place where the performer is continuously improving his skill sets.

Over many months or years or thousands of repetitions, a “deliberate practice” performer

begins to rise to the highest levels of excellence. Colvin suggests that even such a performer’s
cognitive perception, powers of creativity and intuitive knowledge and memory begin to grow.
Unfortunately, “deliberate practice” is “hard”, says Colvin. “It hurts, but it works.” It is an
intensely mental drill, and thus it is not “inherently enjoyable”.
What are the elements of “deliberate practice”?

 Exercises designed specifically for the individual to improve performance past his
limits.
 It is repeated over and over.
 High level feedback on results is continuously available in a supportive
environment.
 It’s highly demanding mentally.
 It’s not much fun, thus implies the need for passion.

Colvin goes on to show how this methodology can apply in business and sports, and to
individuals and teams. Colvin lastly explores the “deepest question about great performance” –
namely, where does the passion come from? He suggests that performers might have intrinsic as
well as extrinsic motivations, and among them the pleasure of great accomplishment, the need
for achievement, the need to do good, and the drive for power and purpose.

Favorite Quotes:
“You can work on technique all you like, but if you can’t see the effects, two things will
happen: You won’t get any better, and you’ll stop caring.”
“The people who do become top-level achievers are rarely child prodigies.”
“People who are internally driven to create do seem more creative than those who are just
doing it for the money.”

Recommendations:
Talent is Overrated is an intellectual exploration into what really makes for world-class
performance, with useful and challenging ideas for everyone to reach a higher performance level.
‘Deliberate practice’ is probably one of the most important concepts that have a
significant impact on sporting success and improving skill acquisition. Training is so much less
effective if it is simply going through the motions. I recommend Talent is Overrated by Geoff
Colvin as a must-read for any coach, athlete or person who wants to improve in any part of their
life and for motivational purposes. The stories and examples are great, the research compelling
and it is a book you can get through over a weekend because it will hold your interest so well.
Here are my big takeaways from the book:

 Exceptional talent is a function of hard work over time

 There is a blueprint you can follow to get talented
 You can develop talent (expertise) in any discipline
 Developing talent is hard work
 You can use the ‘talent blueprint’ as a teaching guide
 You don’t have to get to virtuoso level to outrank your competitors
 Those who only read a book don’t grow and improve – those who implement truly learn and
thrive