Just Finished Reading The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle

The Talent Code is a 2009 book by Daniel Coyle that seeks to derive truths about how people successfully develop talent.  Coyle works from the notion that talent, although often considered innate, must undergo a process in order to achieve mastery in any particular area.  He divides the elements of talent development into three parts: deep practice, ignition and master coaching, in the process supplying numerous (maybe too numerous) examples to make his points.   Coyle insists that the growth of myelin in our brains is specific to the things we learn to do, and deep practice contributes to that growth for the specific area.  One breaks a learning project down to chunks, or sections, assimilating each one through repeated failing to proficiency.  Ignition is the spark of motivation exploding into a passion.  And deep coaching involves imparting the appropriate information to the client/student's talent formation at the right time.  Throughout his presentation Coyle refers to special places that seem to produce an inordinate amount of overachievers, and seeks to explain why this is so.  After finishing the book, I had to ask myself what new information he had imparted to me.  Sadly, there wasn't much here...maybe you would get more from it, I don't know.  But with his idea of breaking things down to sustainable chunks, I definitely see that as an affirmation of what I already knew.  And yes, with that deep practice and ignition, I have experienced what some have termed the "flow" state when my progress in an area, suddenly takes off and seems almost effortless.  Do I recommend The Talent Code? Well, it can't hurt and I was able to check it out from my public library, so it didn't cost me anything either.  Not exactly a ringing endorsement, but sometimes a rereading can provide me a different angle to it all...