The Talent Code: Greatness Isn't Born. It's Grown. Here's How. Hardcover – 28 April 2009

The book was used and had someone els's notes written in it, apart from that it is a great read. It is easy, informative, interesting and I thoroughly enjoyed putting in to practice what I've learned.

This is a book about how to become really great at skills such as sports or music performance.As a pro musician and music coach, I was obviously highly interested.Coyle breaks down the three principles into the coding/practice part, "ignition"(broadly, inspiration) and coaching.In essence there is no surprise here for anyone who spends their professional life in music practice and teaching.True, it is interesting to read how the neuroscientific mechanism of myelin works (a sort of fatty reinforcement mechanism to nerve circuits needed for skills).But in practical terms, knowing this doesn't to my understanding change much about how skills are acquired.There are some very interesting detailed observations about individual master coaches and what makes them good.Definitely an interesting and thought provoking book. Just-to be fair like most books of its type, like Malcolm Gladwell's-a bit of a padding out exercise. There are three key concepts. Good. Tell me succinctly how they work. Done. Next book.I guess it would be more of a booklet or pamphlet but insofar as this is in the "how to" category -tell me his to and then let me go do it!In any case, worth the money and worth reading, if perhaps selectively.

This is a great book - it really challenged the way I think. I also think it is an imperfect book. There were a couple of leaps that I just did not get, or maybe agreed with. However in the underlying hypothesis of the biological basis of skill in the process of myelination was both fascinating and very challenging.Accepting the hypothesis creates a new basis of learning and the more important process of 'unlearning' in adults. This book will change the way I approach my work.I also think the the review suggesting that this is a book about positive mindset totally misses the point. Positive mindset, as Coyle says himself, is irrelevant. It is how the mind is 'ignited' or focused and how this is then implemented in the right kind of deep practice, not just hard work.

I really enjoyed the notions of deep practice, ignition and master coaching. I read this book in the context of recovering from chronic pain. the master skill for this is “deep relaxation” which will hopefully lead to desensitise one’s nervous system. Knowing that focusing on chunks of skills and loads of repetition gives a clear vision of what’s required. The only thing I didn’t ‘vibe’ in the book is the emphasis on growing myelin. Somehow I don’t believe it’s as simple a neurological mechanism as that. Highly recommended nevertheless.

I'm into the first part of the book. Very interesting, totally agree with the theories. It is a heavy read full of psychology..so am reading a little at a time

I thought I knew a lot about learning, as a teacher and lecturer, psychologist and mother but this book was a revelation. In a readable and page turning work, Daniel Coyle has made abundantly clear how success happens. Now I feel so confident about my way forward. He fleshes out the truth of the sayings "Practice makes perfect" and "Use it or lose it." I am now aware that you become what you "DO" - starting with baby, wobbly steps. I love this book and am busy recommending it to my friends, patients, the world really. This book is a gift. Go for it!

There's some good and interesting information in here. It's a pretty good read. Basically, the author talks about how talent develops and how to encourage it. There are some interesting stories. I've read a few books like this, so the case studies were familiar. This was probably 'first in niche', and the author went to a lot of trouble interviewing key people. Sadly, some of the talent didn't match up to expectations (American football player JaMarcus Russell being the most salient.) Teachers and parents would find this book invaluable.

Even though I haven't finished reading it yet, I'm quite amazed with all the facts it presents about our neurogiacal system and how we build skills. I'm a language teacher and kind of a fan of Krashen's language aquisition theory (which for me is not just a theory). This book shows the biological background of all the recent findings on aquiring skills. Brilliant story-telling, well-founded presentation based on thorough research. Highly recommended.