Geoff Colvin Books

As the digital revolution has accelerated, we’ve reached an extraordinary reversal. For most of human history, the more skilled you were at analytical or technical work, the more valuable you were. Today, that correlation is weakening. Computers are becoming unbeatable at precisely those skills—calc...

From Humans Are Underrated: What High Achievers Know That Brilliant Machines Never Will

As I delved deeper into the evidence, a clear pattern emerged. The capabilities that remain exclusively human are those that arise from our social and emotional nature. Machines, no matter how sophisticated, lack consciousness, context, and compassion. They cannot truly understand another’s perspect...

From Humans Are Underrated: What High Achievers Know That Brilliant Machines Never Will

For centuries, our culture has been obsessed with the notion that giftedness is innate. You’ll find it in our educational systems, our hiring practices, our sports commentary – the almost reflexive assumption that some people ‘just have it.’ Yet as I examined decades of performance data, that comfor...

From Talent Is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else

Deliberate practice is a term that recurs like a drumbeat throughout this book, because it defines the essence of how extraordinary performers build skill. But let me be clear – most practice is not deliberate practice. When we play a game of tennis, rehearse a piano piece casually, or attend anothe...

From Talent Is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else