The End of Average

How We Succeed in a World That Values Sameness

De: Todd Rose

Narrado por: Fred Sanders

Are you above average? Is your child an A student? Is your employee an introvert or an extrovert? Every day we are measured against the yardstick of averages, judged according to how close we come to it or how far we deviate from it.

The assumption that metrics comparing us to an average—like GPAs, personality test results, and performance review ratings—reveal something meaningful about our potential is so ingrained in our consciousness that we don't even question it. That assumption, says Harvard's Todd Rose, is spectacularly—and scientifically—wrong.

In The End of Average, Rose, a rising star in the new field of the science of the individual, shows that no one is average. Not you. Not your kids. Not your employees. This isn't hollow sloganeering—it's a mathematical fact with enormous practical consequences.

But while we know people learn and develop in distinctive ways, these unique patterns of behaviors are lost in our schools and businesses, which have been designed around the mythical "average person". This average-size-fits-all model ignores our differences and fails at recognizing talent. It's time to change it.

Weaving science, history, and his personal experiences as a high school dropout, Rose offers a powerful alternative to understanding individuals through averages: the three principles of individuality. The jaggedness principle (talent is always jagged), the context principle (traits are a myth), and the pathways principle (we all walk the road less traveled) help us understand our true uniqueness - and that of others - and how to take full advantage of individuality to gain an edge in life.

Listen to this powerful manifesto in the ranks of Drive, Quiet, and Mindset - and you won't see averages or talent in the same way again.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2015 L. Todd Rose (P)2015 HarperCollins Publishers

Inspiring Educators

Helpful reminder to teach to the student, and continue to challenge curriculum as we know it. I love that is not simply a book full of theories. Concrete examples of implementation and success help me to visualize a classroom where I can further tailor the teaching experience to the student.
Anti-complacency and intuiutive, this book gets two thumbs up from me.

opened my eyes

this book really opened my eyes to the way that a lot of things in our culture works. I think it did a great job of pointing out problems in the current model, though I think the solution Chris and it could have been a little more fleshed-out. overall a great read that I would recommend to most people people!!

Save Our Republic!

Most everyone I talk to agrees that our country is in distress. What are the solutions? How do we find a path out? The principles and ideas outlined in this book are a definitive light at the end of the tunnel. We need to abandon the patterns of a 100 year old system and renew our minds to embrace a new way of thinking. By elevating the individual above the system, We The People will renew the American Dream for every Citizen, regardless of any barrier created from the old way.
Read this! Please! And you'll understand.

Insightful

Great and essential reading for navigating the world and finding success as an individual in a system set up for the so called average person. The book has a slow start if you’re not a history buff. But keep at it, the payoff is incredible.

I LOVE THIS BOOK! ON POINT!

Todd Rose has such compelling story that I was motivated to approach him. I feel like I could have THE longest and most enlightening conversations with this person. I cannot fathom the fact that our public school system has failed miserably at understanding the value of individualism, hence the emergence of thousands of charter schools. More often than not, we see students who enter college clearly driven by societal expectations of them and not their personal preference for a career, as they often stay "undeclared" for YEARS paying the high price of tuition, to later not being able to find a decent job to pay it back upon graduation.

WE have a responsibility to target public schools and DEMAND change.

Educators should read this

If you are an educator, you need to read this book! It will change the way you view your students and your career.

A Must Read

I first learned of this book from top researchers in youth development, who humbly admitted their research was limited due not taking into consideration the three principles in this book.

I ordered 8 physical copies of this book to give to graduating seniors in my youth development program.

Must Read

Mind blown wide open. As an educator of the students barely hanging on with the deepest sense of being failed by the system, ending the age of average is an ABSOLUTE have to. I am a strong proponent of individualized compencey based student driven learning and now I know why I have felt this way and some ideas of how to bring the educational experience in my classroom/school closer to that goal.

Amazing book

As an educator listening to this book makes me look at my students, my curriculum and my school all differently. But it’s not just for educators. As a person I see how average stoped me from being my best self and I’ve had to fight the messages of average I have been told all these years. If you know you are more than you thought but need someone to clarify that gut feeling then listen to this book. It will change how you look at everything and that’s what makes this book phenomenal. I have recommended it to so many people already!

MUST read for Teachers

A MUST read for anyone in education. The sooner schools follow more of what Rose writes about, the better off schools will become.