Unlock Your Potential and Break Free from the Chains of Average: A Guide to Thriving in a World That Values Sameness by Todd Rose

Alexandra: This book is incredible! It teaches to value yourself for who you are, not trying to fit in the system.

United States on Sep 14, 2023

Vidisha D: Loved reading and analysing this book in a book club. It talks about being anything but average, learning skills, strategising for maximum output and innovation.

India on Jul 03, 2023

Drjackl: The material in this book was extremely compelling. Like most people In My peer group, I spent my life trying to be well above average. I earned a bachelors and a doctorate in engineering and an MBA. It all made sense until I was finishing my dissertation. It was a pain in the butt and I looked back at all the courses I took that were completely unnecessary for the work I wanted to do. Many of them were redundant, just rehashing material I already knew. Since then I’ve been an advocate of certifications and competence rather than degrees. I’m guessing that half of the material required for most degrees is useless. Certs and competencies would be far better once people get over the fake prestige value of an elite alma mater. I’ve hired a ton of people over the years and, believe me, alma maters and sat scores don’t matter. Good book

United States on Jul 02, 2022

LeeAnn Bussolari: I think anyone who is an educator should sit down and read this. It definitely gets you thinking.....

Spain on Apr 13, 2022

dboudreau: ... and I've read quite a few. While you may not think of this book as being a book on design, it very much is. Rose spectacularly succeeds at breaking down the myth of the average user and when you apply this to design, it opens up a world of possibilities for a more inclusive approach to designing for everyone. I highly recommend it. In fact, I regularly do to my students, clients, and colleagues!

Canada on Jan 01, 2021

Reid McCormick: “Oh people can come up with statistics to prove anything, Kent. Forfty percent of all people know that.” This is a classic quote from one of my favorite philosophers, Homer J. Simpson. This quote perfectly highlights how statistics can be utterly meaningless. In the wrong hands (either knowingly or unknowingly), any number can be massaged to fit a desired narrative. It is one of the reasons why using statistics in a debate is useless.

The concept of average is very misleading. Mathematically, it is simply the sum of the numbers divided by the amount of numbers. It is a simple tool that can help paint a quick image, however, the image can be quite distorted. It would be very misleading for me to say that my child and I average of 20 hours of work per week. I work 40 hours, she works zero (she is only 5 years old).

This book attempts to dismantle the acceptance of average. Every day we compare ourselves to the average. Am I making an average salary? Are my kids learning above average? Do I eat more than others?

As much as I enjoyed this book, in the end, it felt like a great magazine article stretched into a 200-page book. The first story perfectly...

United States on Mar 12, 2020

sirjoe: Un ottimo libro che non riguarda solamente lo sviluppo individuale o la gestione delle risorse umane in azienda, ma anche il sistema educativo e la formazione. L’autore analizza i successi storici di una serie di assiomi psicologici e manageriali basati sul concetto di “media” o di “distribuzione”, sostenendo che qualsiasi disciplina che alla basa abbia questi assiomi, tende a proporre soluzioni per persone “medie” che nella realtà non esistono. Corroborato da importanti studi sul tema (non sempre ben accolti dalla comunità scientifica), il libro analizza anche i danni provocati dai test di personalità, per giungere poi a proporre una soluzione veramente basata sull’individuo.
Alcuni brevi casi reali mostrano come l’approccio abbia assolutamente senso.
Nonostante sia ampiamente divulgativo, il testo è supportato da un’ottima ricerca bibliografica.

Italy on Aug 28, 2019

Tobias P.: erklärt anschaulich auch für nicht-mathematiker die historischen, mittlerweile jedoch fachlich falschen Grundannahmen, die zur Entwicklung der modernen "Durschnittsgeilheit" geführt haben und zeigt die Fallstricke dieser fehlerhaften Berechnung für verschiedene Gesellschaftsbereiche auf.
Für mich besonders unerwartet waren die immensen Auswirkungen auf Bildung, Arbeitsmarkt und Personalpolitik

Germany on Jan 08, 2019

CR Melo: Book is brilliant, and inspirational. My dad harped on us developing our individuality while whole of India was mired and still mired in global rankings, entrance exams and becoming a doctor or engineer. Clearly "on average" those who did well with exams seem to "on average" have more secure jobs and incomes (personal anecdote). Still those who seemed to survive that rigid system through their individuality and creativity have achieved a lot more. Raising our own children it seems we are caught in this trap of comparing to the standard norms expected in public schools in USA. I see this tendency of wanting to hire from prestigious schools in the medical profession as well. Again while "on average" this might work, the problem is missing the gem that might be staring in front of you. In the book "the hard thing about hard things" Ben Horowitz talks about this. Google HR chief Lazlo Bock talks about this in his book "Work Rules". At my company (startup) I have hired through Lou Adler method (mentioned in this book) and so far has been very helpful. The book has given me a lot of self confidence about my own life path (I am in my mid 40s) and have struggled with being able to express...

United States on Mar 06, 2016