Big news: Disney is offering parents refunds on Baby Einstein DVDs because… they don’t work worth a darn. As this article explains, the corporation settled with the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, tacitly admitting that … keep reading
When writers produce marvelous, big-hearted, prize-winning books, they are always asked the same question: How’d you do it? At this point, the vast majority of writers do exactly the same thing. They lie their heads … keep reading
One question that pops up often: why does super-slow practice work so well? After all, we see it over and over in the talent hotbeds, where it’s used to learn everything from algebra to tennis … keep reading
It’s the oldest cliche: the orphan superhero; the Harry Potter/Bruce Wayne/Clark Kent dwelling in quiet exile amid the unsuspecting citizenry, secret possessor of magical talents. It also turns out to be sort of true — … keep reading
Fact #1: my fourth-grade daughter just started playing in her elementary-school band. Fact #2: last night, 28-year-old Gustavo Dudamel — a.k.a. The Dude, a.k.a. classical music’s newest rock star — conducted his first piece with … keep reading
I love Emily Bear. She’s an eight-year-old kid from Rockford, IL, who plays piano incredibly well. I also love how her story embodies some of the patterns about developing talent. Let’s set aside some of … keep reading
How do you ignite passion? I like these two examples, both of which use what might be called the “side-door” method. First, from a recent New Yorker article, the tennis-playing Bryan family set out to motivate … keep reading
With the Beatles in the news so much these days, it’s revealing to look back at the band’s earliest days. They weren’t original — quite the opposite. As we see (and hear), they faithfully worked … keep reading
How do you measure the true value of a job? Conventional wisdom has its answers (salary, glamor, social networking). Here’s a better measure: how much opportunity you get to spend constructing and honing your high-speed … keep reading
Want to eat that marshmallow right now? You can, but here’s the catch: if you wait a few minutes, you can have two marshmallows. (Argh!) Turns out that kids who can wait — who can … keep reading
