It focuses on the topic of sports without delving deep into the fascinating topic of deliberate practice and its applications in wider areas. Having come across this before I didn’t find the book to be revelatory. However, it is one I strongly recommend, whether to people who have already accepted this idea, or to people who have never heard it before. I recommend it because the idea that practise is the only way to guarantee excellence is as important as it is motivating. Syed manages to make it uplifting as well. However, don’t go overboard: too much confidence results in less practice and a bigger chance for a failure at a later stage. That’s what happens to many of the overexposed Mozarts of today! Talent is overrated – and never enough! And if you really want to succeed in anything in life, you’ll have to repeat this truism as if a mantra. And pair it up with another: practice makes perfect, practice makes perfect, practice makes perfect…

Although we tend to think of genius as something akin to magic, a kind of short-cut to mastery of the elements, it is nothing of the sort. A proper investigation of the careers of the supreme achievers, whether in sport or other fields, reveals that they are based above all on monomaniacal diligence and concentration. Constant struggle, in other words. Seen in this light, we might define genius as talent multiplied by effort." – Dominic Lawson, The Independent When I first read the title ‘Bounce’ by Matthew Syed, I was more intrigued with the name of the author than on what the book was about. Businesses often suppose that financial incentives are the primary driver of motivation, but this is not supported by the evidence. Monetary inducements can, indeed, make a significant difference, but mindset is more important.

“Bounce Summary”

A truly fascinating read, where Syed rips apart the talent myth from both his own personal experience (as an Olympic table tennis player) and from surveying the world of other sports, where the idea that some "heroes" have an innate talent that cannot be learned is strongest. I guarantee that if you finish this book, and if you haven't come across any of these arguments or opinions before, then you will be looking at the world, and possibly yourself, in a different way from here on in. Records the default button state of the corresponding category & the status of CCPA. It works only in coordination with the primary cookie. A key aspect of brain transformation is myelin, a substance that wraps around the nerve fibers and that can dramatically increase the speed with which signals pass through the brain.

To become a world-class achiever in any field, it is not only the sheer number of hours of practice that is important; it is also the type of practice. Syed writes that "world-class performance comes by striving for a target just out of reach, but with a vivid awareness of how the gap might be breached. Over time, through constant repetition and deep concentration, the gap will disappear, only for a new target to be created, just out of reach once again." And he writes that "Excellence is about stepping outside the comfort zone, training with a spirit of endeavor, and accepting the inevitability of trials and tribulations."

It sounds like a blasphemy, but, according to Matthew Syed – it’s true: Mozart was just a regular child! We think of him as someone extraordinary – that is: a child prodigy – because we compare him to the wrong group of people.

Purposeful practice s about striving what’s just out of reach and not quite making it; it is about grappling with tasks beyond the current limitations and falling short again and again. Excellence is about stepping outside the comfort zone, training with a spirit of endeavor, and accepting the inevitability of trials and tribulations. Progress is built, in effect, upon the foundations of necessary failure. That is the essential paradox of expert performance. Small populations have genetic traits that are often different from those of other populations; the short-limbed Inuit, for example, are different from aborigines. If the performer doesn’t feel any pressure, there is no pressure – and the conscious mind will not attempt to wrestle control from the implicit system.Syed is clearly a fan of Malcolm Gladwell and references Gladwell’s book Outliers several times. Having read Gladwell’s David and Goliath, but not Outliers, I’m tempted to assume that most of Gladwell’s books are pretty same-y. There’s definitely a certain amount of overlap between Bounce and David and Goliath.

The key is to be sensitive to the way the child is thinking and feeling, encouraging training without exerting undue pressure. Matthew Syed is an Olympic athlete. His sport is table tennis. He writes about how he’s realised that his prowess at the sport has nothing whatsoever to do with any innate talent or any quirk of genetics but is entirely due to careful, purposeful practise.Managers with a fixed mindset, for example, are less able to recognise changes in employee performance and are disinclined to coach employees on how to improve their performance (why would they bother, if they believe that ability levels are fixed?) A growth mindset positively predicts managers' perceived fairness in dealing with employees, which is critical in enticing employees to identify with their work and commit themselves to it. Child prodigies amaze us because we compare them not with other performers who have practiced for the same length of time, but with children of the same age who have not dedicated their lives in the same way. Talent and innate ability vs. hard work and ‘deliberative practice’. Which is the greater and more determinative force?