BOOK REVIEW: Bounce: Mozart, Federer, Picasso, Beckham, and the science of success
By Matthew Syed, Harper Collins, Hardcover, 2010, 312 Pages, $25.99
Do you want to know how to achieve excellence? If so, you owe it to yourself to pick up a copy of Matthew Syed's book, "Bounce." Let me be clear here. I don't mean you should reserve it at the library. I don't even mean you should order it from Amazon and wait a week for it to arrive. I mean you should run out to your local bookstore and buy a copy. Now. It's that good.
"Bounce" combines the cool analysis of scientific research with the emotional heat of world class Olympic competition, to examine the reasons why some humans achieve greatness and others do not. Though many of the examples it draws upon are from the world of sports, the lessons in the book are applicable across the spectrum of human endeavor.
Drawing on books like Malcom Gladwells' "Outliers," Syed begins "Bounce" by tackling the myth that some are simply born to greatness. "We like to think that sport is a meritocracy ... but it is nothing of the sort. ... Think of the thousands of potential Wimbledon champions who have never been fortunate enough to own a tennis racket or receive specialized coaching." Syed then takes on the notion that success is the result of some mystical commodity known as "talent." Citing the evidence of countless studies and interviews with successful people from all walks of life, Syed comes up with the deceptively simple fact that regardless of their natural physical ability, virtually everyone who has reached the pinnacle of their profession has done so only after putting in a shitload of hard work. Or, as he quotes Jack Nicklaus, "Nobody