Bounce: The Myth of Talent and the Power of Practice

Reviews

Siddharth

Bounce is a fantastic read, taking Gladwell's 10,000 hours and unpicking it to reveal exactly what the book's subtitle promises - the power of practice. It's not just Federer's physical prowess with a tennis racquet (something Syed talks about in a later chapter as reproducible practice) but also the hours and hours and hours he has spent practicing reading his opponents, knowing exactly where to look and what it means. And I'm really glad I did. But not just any practice: Syed explains that the power really lies in the type of practice.

Kym Hamer

Read it. I'd never heard of it or him but having been enthralled by Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers, I couldn't resist adding it to the pile. Syed presents a bulletproof case against talent, as the world understands it.

He dismantles the idea of genius, revealing what it actually takes to become a master at something. If you're willing to go "all in" on something to master it, I would highly recommend this book. I found Matthew Syed's Bounce buried on a charity shop bookshelf. Coupled with an examination of the growth mindset and the impact of self-belief (and it's not what you might think), Bounce had me fascinated from beginning to end.