The Genius in All of Us

Those are the first words of the book on the first page of the book entitled: THE ARGUMENT.

I might have marked it all up as I organized my thoughts with parallel wisdom from some of the other great books we’ve explored on the subject.

Highlights of my Notes include some thoughts on Grit and Peak.

In Grit, Angela Duckworth tells us that EFFORT COUNTS TWICE.

Specifically, she says: “I have been working on a theory of the psychology of achievement since Marty [Seligman] scolded me for not having one. I have pages and pages of diagrams, filling more than a dozen lab notebooks. After more than a decade of thinking about it, sometimes alone, and sometimes in partnership with close colleagues, I finally published an article in which I lay down two simple equations that explain how you get from talent to achievement.

Here they are:

talent x effort = skill

——————> skill x effort = achievement

Talent is how quickly your skills improve when you invest effort. Achievement is what happens when you take your acquired skills and use them. Of course, your opportunities—for example, having a great teacher—matter tremendously, too, and maybe more than anything about the individual. My theory doesn’t address these outside forces, nor does it include luck. It’s about the psychology of achievement, but because psychology isn’t all that maters, it’s incomplete.

Still, I think it’s useful. What this theory says is that when you consider individuals in identical circumstances, what each achieves depends on just two things, talent and effort. Talent—how fast we can improve a skill—absolutely matters. But effort factors into the calculations twice, not once. Effort builds skill. At the very same time, effort makes skill productive.“

In Peak, Anders Ericsson tells us that we ALL have “The Gift.”

Here’s how he puts it: “With this truth in mind, let’s return to the question that I asked at the beginning: Why are some people so amazingly good at what they do? Over my years of studying experts in various fields, I have found that they all develop their abilities … through dedicated training that drives changes in the brain (and sometimes, depending on the ability, in the body) that make it possible for them to do things that they otherwise could not. Yes, in some cases genetic endowment makes a difference, particularly in areas where height or other physical factors are important. A man with genes for being five feet five will find it tough to become a professional basketball player, just as a six-foot woman will find it virtually impossible to succeed as an artistic gymnast at the international level. And, there are other ways in which genes may influence one’s achievements, particularly those genes that influence how likely a person is to practice diligently and correctly. But the clear message from decades of research is that no matter what role innate genetic endowment may play in the achievements of ‘gifted’ people, the main gift that these people have is the same one we all have—the adaptability of the human brain and body, which they have taken advantage of more than the rest of us.”

Yep. That’s about right. We all have The Ultimate Gift. And, it takes a ton of Grit (and a bunch of other factors!) to bring it to fruition.

P.S. David echoes this with the very last words of the book: “Everything shapes us and everything can be shaped by us. The genius in all of us is our built-in ability to improve ourselves and our world.”

Welcome to chapter 2 called “Genes 2.0: How Genes Really Work.”

The basic idea?

“Genes matter, and genetic differences will result in trait differences, but in the final analysis, each of us is a dynamic system, a creature of development.

This new dynamic model of GxE (genes multiplied by environment) is very different from the old static model of G+E (genes plus environment). Under the old paradigm, genes came first and set the stage. They dealt each of us our first hand of cards, and only afterward could we add in environmental influences.

The new model begins with interaction. There is no genetic foundation that gets laid before the environment sets in; rather, genes express themselves strictly in accordance with their environment. Everything that we are, from the first moment of conception, is a result of this process. We do not inherit traits directly from our genes. Instead, we develop traits through the dynamic process of gene-environment interaction. In the GxE world, genetic differences still matter enormously. But, on their own, they don’t determine who we are.”

So, to recap.

The Genes 1.0 perspective is a more static model. It tells us that our genes play the strongest, most determinative role in who we become.

The Genes 2.0 perspective, on the other hand, is a much more DYNAMIC model. It accounts for the powerful interaction between our genes and our environment (which includes our lifestyle CHOICES!) in who we become.

Genes 1.0 can be captured in this equation: G+E. Genes 2.0 by this equation: GxE.

It’s basically Nature + Nurture (or Nature vs. Nurture) OR Nature x Nurture.

Why does this matter? Because if we buy into the myth of genetic determinism, we’ll look at all those “geniuses” out there and think they have some special genetic gift that we don’t have. But… If we more accurately perceive the INTERACTION of our genes and our environment, we can see that we ALL have the potential to express ourselves in powerful ways.

How? That’s what we’ll talk about next.

P.S. David also tells us: “Dynamic development is why human biology is a jukebox with many potential tunes—not specific built-in instructions for a certain kind of life, but built-in capacity for a variety of possible lives. No one is genetically doomed to mediocrity.”

Mozart.

He was BORN a genius, right? Answer: NO!!!

We’ve dispelled this myth a number of times but it’s worth revisiting. Why? Because, although Mozart is often viewed as the perfect example of being born a genius, he is ACTUALLY the *perfect* exemplar for the GxE interactionist model in which the process of vigorous, deliberate, sustained practice is in full effect.

Yes. Mozart was an extraordinary child prodigy. But… Recall that his father was a super-ambitious and proficient musician who LITERALLY wrote the book on how to teach music to kids and Mozart was a RIDICULOUSLY (!) hard-working little guy.

(And, as per our Notes on Geoff Colvin’s Talent Is Overrated, recall that Mozart’s first truly genius-level, original creative work was only achieved after a TON of deliberate practice. As Geoff puts it: “Mozart’s first work regarded today as a masterpiece, with its status confirmed by the number of recordings available, is his Piano Concerto No. 9, composed when he was twenty-one. That’s certainly an early age, but we must remember that by then Wolfgang had been through eighteen years of extremely hard, expert training.”

David references Carol Dweck throughout the book as well. In Mindset, she also uses Mozart as an exemplar for training hard.

She tells us: “Is it ability or mindset? Was it Mozart’s musical ability or the fact that he worked till his hands were deformed? Was it Darwin’s scientific ability or the fact that he collected specimens non-stop from early childhood?”

Carol’s whole “Fixed vs. Growth” mindset can be viewed as another take on the Genes 1.0 vs. Genes 2.0 perspective.

One more time: If we think our gifts are “fixed” at birth, we won’t do much to try to get better. If, on the other hand, we think we ALL have the gift of being able to grow into our potential, then we’re much more likely to embrace the process of diligent, patient and persistent hard work.

Back to David who asks us: “Who else has the potential to scale such [Mozart-like] heights?

Conventional nature-versus-nurture wisdom says very few people, but the clear and exciting lesson from GxE and from Anders Ericsson’s research is this: no one knows. We do not—and cannot—know our own limits unless and until we push ourselves to find them. Finding one’s true natural limit in any field takes many years and many thousands of hours of intense pursuit. What are your limits?”

Deliberate practice. Anders Ericsson also calls this “purposeful practice.” He tells us that it’s the “gold standard” for excellence.

In Peak he puts it this way: “So here we have purposeful practice in a nutshell: Get outside your comfort zone but do it in a focused way, with clear goals, a plan for reaching those goals, and a way to monitor your progress. Oh, and figure out a way to maintain your motivation.”

You know what else he tells us?

He tells us that doing the hard work to get better and discover our potential is one of the things that makes us human. In fact, he says: “And I would argue that we humans are most human when we’re improving ourselves. We, unlike any other animal, can consciously change ourselves, to improve ourselves in ways we choose. This distinguishes us from every other species alive today and, as far as we know, from every other species that has ever lived.

The classic conception of human nature is captured in the name we gave ourselves as a species, Homo sapiens. Our distant ancestors included Homo erectus, or ‘upright man,’ because the species could walk upright, and Homo habilis, the ‘handy man,’ so named because the species was at one time thought to be the earliest humans to have made and used stone tools. We call ourselves ‘knowing man’ because we see ourselves as distinguished from our ancestors by our vast amount of knowledge. But perhaps a better way to see ourselves would be as Homo exercens, or ‘practicing man,’ the species that takes control of its life through practice and makes of itself what it will.”

That’s from a chapter called “How to Be a Genius (or Merely Great)” in which David gives us some practical tips.

The first tip? FIND YOUR MOTIVATION. As I read that passage, I thought of Mastery by Robert Greene and The Great Work of Your Life by Stephen Cope and Creativity by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. Check out those Notes for more wisdom on finding AND protecting your motivation in pursuit of your highest potential.

Other tips? Be Your Own Toughest Critic. Identify Your Limitations—And Then Ignore Them. Delay Gratification and Resist Contentedness. Have Heroes. And, Find a Mentor.

My favorite gem might be this one from the “Have Heroes” section: “Heroes inspire, not just by their great work but also by their humble beginnings. Einstein worked as a patent clerk. Thomas Edison was expelled from the first grade because his teacher thought him retarded. Charles Darwin had so little to show for himself as a teenager that his father said to him, ‘You care for nothing but shooting, dogs, and rat-catching and you will be a disgrace to yourself and all your family.’ …

To know the particulars of a favorite artist or athlete’s ordeal is to be continually reminded of uncharted paths and oddball ideas that only later become recognized as genius. This experience is magnified by examining rough drafts of masterpiece books, paintings, and albums. To see the evolution of a particular work of art is to behold how nothing slowly and painfully becomes something.”

All that brings us back to YOU. (And your spouse and kids and colleagues and…)

Can you see the Genius within beckoning you to explore your potential? I can.