Review:Coyle,Daniel(2009.1129).TheTalentCode:GreatnessIsn'tBorn.It'sGrown.Here'sHow.

New
York:Bantam(Chapter1TheSweetSpot)

WesometimewonderwhyMaradonawasoneofthebestsoccerplayersaroundtheworld,what
didCharlieParkereattobeoneofthebestSaxophoneplayersinthehistory,WhatdidAlbert
EinsteinisdrinkingwhilehewasdevelopingTheTheoryofRelativity,HowdidtheRayuelaarrive
toJulioCortzarsmind?.Whatdidtheyeat?Howwastheirliving?Whatisitthatmakesthe
peoplestandsupinthemusic,art,sports,science?Arethosepeoplebornormade?DanielCoyle
inyourbookTheTalentCodetellthestoryabouthistriptoseveralplacesaroundtheworldto
solvetheabovequestion.

InDecember2006CoyleundertakeajourneytothechickenwireHarvardsthoseareplaceswhere
manysuccessfulpeoplearefrom.Coyleexpectedtofindvelocity,powerandgrace,hefoundthose
allthings.Nevertheless,hefoundallthosethingsandmoreHemetwithunexpectedmomentsof
slowandfitfulstruggle.(p.11)

DuringhistriphewatchedacoupleofbehaviorsthatarerepeatedinthechickenwireHarvards,
whenpeoplestumbled,stopped,themtheyanalyzedcarefullywhatwasthenextstep,tryreturning
slowlyit,andiftheyfailedagain,theyrepeatthesameprocedureuntilgetwhattheywanted.From
theseobservationsheconcludedthattheyactwithinthelimitsoftheirabilitiesandthereforemake
mistakesthatsomehowtheonesmakesthembetter,buthow?(p.14)

InordertoanswerthequestionDanielanalyzesthesuccessofBrazilianfootballHeattemptsto
analyzewhyBrazilsoccerteamhavebeenworldchampionsfivetimesandwhytheirplayersare
signedtoEuropeanclubs?Everyonewouldthinkitisamatterofgeneticsandatmosphere,butthat
doesnotanswerthequestionaboutwhytheBraziliansoccerbeginstoprotrudefromthe50s?
Danielfoundananswerinfutsal,hesawitasawayoftrainingDeepPractice(DP),aconceptdefined
withthehelpofacoupleofexercisesdevelopedbyRobertBjork,apsychologistatUCLA.(p.16)

BjorkattributestheDPssuccesstothewayourbrainsarebuilt,whenwethinkhowdoesthebrain
work? It is common to imagine this one as a tape recorder. However, Bjork says, Its a living
structure, a scaffold of nearly infinite size. The more we generate impulses, encountering and
overcomingdifficulties,themorescaffoldingwebuild.Themorescaffoldingwebuild,thefasterwe
learn.(p.14)Ithinkitisaveryinterestingconcepttothinkthatovercomingamistakeisputting
anotherlinkonascaffoldthatleadstowherewewanttogo,itisextraordinary.

DanielsaysthetrickoftheDeepPracticeistofindtheSweetSpot,Thereisanoptimalgapbetween
whatyouknowandwhatyouretryingtodo.Whenyoufindthatsweetspot,learningtakesoff.(p.
19) and the Deep Practice is based on the paradox of making mistakes to improve our skills.
Nevertheless,whataboutsituationswhereamistakemeansdeath?ToanswerthatquestionDaniel
tellsthestoryofEdwinAlbertLink,Jr.anamateurpilotwhosolvedtheproblemoftheairplane
pilotsaccidentsin1934.Linkinventedthe"bluebox"adevicetotrainpilotsofaircraftinground
givingthepossibilitytomakemistakeswithoutriskingyourlife.(p.21)
Althoughsoccerisnotasfatalasaviation,blueboxusesthesameconceptasthemainBrazilian
football weapon, "futsal". Conclusion he arrives with his friend Daniel Simon Clifford books, the
footballcoachofaCatholicschoolinLeeds,England.ThoughhewassuccessfulBrazilianfootball
fan,andwantedtotraveltoSPtolearnwhytheBraziliansarethebestplayersintheworld,finding
theanswerinDeepPracticeappliedtofutsal,powerfultoolthatwouldimplementsuccessfullyin
LeedsandlaterextendedintwelvecountriesinEurope.(p.24)

Althoughthefutsalissimilarthanfootball,thisoneismoredifficulttoplay.Ontheonehand,the
ballissmallerandheavierandthefieldisusuallymadeofwood,bothfeaturesmaketohandlethe
ballverydifficult.Ontheotherhand,thecourthassmallerdimensions;therefor,thespaceissmaller
givingthepossibilitytoplaytheballsixtimesmorethansoccerplayers.Both,thesedifficultiesand
theabilitytotouchingtheballmoreoftenisfortheplayersstayinginthesweetspotrepeatedly.
Thatdrivesthemtothinkaboutthejogobonitotodefeattheiropponents,tobreaktheopposing
teamslineswithareducedspacepassing.DespitestayingintheSweetSpot,itisnotalwayseasy
beingthereitcouldbecomeexhaustingbecausestayingtheredemandssomeeffort.Itcouldbeturn
afrustratedmattertous,butwhatiftheplayerenjoyswhileheisdoingit?,Whatifhereallyloves
playingfootballandhedreamstobethebestplayerintheworld?.

Coyledoesnottalkabouttheoppositesideofwhatweknowandtogettherewemustsailwith
hardworkanddedicationthroughtheSweetSpot,thatspacebetweenwhatweknowandwhatwe
wanttoachieveIthinkthatgapbetweenwhatweknowandwhatwewanttobelieveitistoosweet,
thesweetspotthatpleasantplacewherewego,wherewedreamtostay.Therefore,Ithinkitis
importantbesurewherewearegoingto,whatwewanttoachieve,whatareourdreams,otherwise
nosensetogotoanotherplace,Ithinktheconceptwouldbemeaninglesssweetspotwouldbe
somethinglikesugarspot.

Insummary,CoyledecidestotraveltothechickenwireHarvardstofindthecausesofsuccessof
outstandingpeopleindifferentfields.HefoundresponseintheDeepPractice.Thisoneisamethod
that operates in the Sweet Spot where the people make mistakes and them they overcome.
Overcoming mistakes turns into another link in the scaffold, a very interesting way to see the
functioningofourbrain.YetCoyledoesnotgiveimportancetoenjoyourSweetSpotsstayingas
wellastheweighttodrivingtothatplacewherewedreamtostay.