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The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything |  | Author: Ph.D., Ken Robinson
Creator: Lou Aronica
Publisher: Viking Adult
List Price: $25.95
Buy New: $8.90
as of 11/24/2009 11:32 CST details
You Save: $17.05 (66%)
New (41) Used (22) Collectible (1) from $7.00
Seller: mom_and_pop
Rating:  54 reviews
Sales Rank: 2569
Media: Hardcover
Edition: First Edition
Pages: 288
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.5 x 1.1
ISBN: 0670020478
Dewey Decimal Number: 153.9
EAN: 9780670020478
ASIN: 0670020478
Publication Date: January 8, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
From one of the worlds leading thinkers and speakers on creativity and self-fulfillment, a breakthrough book about talent, passion, and achievement
The element is the point at which natural talent meets personal passion. When people arrive at the element, they feel most themselves and most inspired and achieve at their highest levels. The Element draws on the stories of a wide range of people, from ex-Beatle Paul McCartney to Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons; from Meg Ryan to Gillian Lynne, who choreographed the Broadway productions of Cats and The Phantom of the Opera; and from writer Arianna Huffington to renowned physicist Richard Feynman and others, including business leaders and athletes. It explores the components of this new paradigm: The diversity of intelligence, the power of imagination and creativity, and the importance of commitment to our own capabilities.
With a wry sense of humor, Ken Robinson looks at the conditions that enable us to find ourselves in the element and those that stifle that possibility. He shows that age and occupation are no barrier, and that once we have found our path we can help others to do so as well. The Element shows the vital need to enhance creativity and innovation by thinking differently about human resources and imagination. It is also an essential strategy for transforming education, business, and communities to meet the challenges of living and succeeding in the twenty-first century.
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 54
 The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything November 21, 2009
Tony Murray (Ireland)
This, the second book by Ken Robinson is an inspiring insight into creativity and the world of possibility. Robinson's work should be a core text on the curricula of every teacher training college and all those involved in education. Robinson 's thesis is simple: focus on finding ones 'element' (talent) and from that creativity and well-being will flow. However, even if you are not professionally involved in education this book is an enjoyable read for anyone interested in the development of the whole person rather then just from 'the neck up'. Robinson's other book 'Out of our Minds' is equally brilliant and a must read. However, behind Robinson's humor there is a very serious critique of education and the way it devalues individual talents and rewards those who conform.
 Only worth a quick skim November 18, 2009
Ryan (New York, NY)
I wanted to like this book. The main thesis, as presented in the first few pages, is intriguing. However, considering the author's indictment of our education system, I expected to find the results of rigorous studies and an outline of practical solutions, both for how we can teach children and for how we as adults who are products of this system can transform our lives. What I found was a collection of anecdotes of successful people, no solutions and no practical guidance. In short, either this book should have been a 2,000 word editorial or the author should have done his job.
An amazing gift of a book November 1, 2009
Bryce Downey
The Element is a powerfully written, often humorous look at what is right under our noses: our own aptitude combined with our desire, which equals personal effectiveness and true joy.
It could be covered in a sentence or two ... October 6, 2009
MonstrousVermin
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
It is a long time since I have read any self-help type books, so I can't readily compare with any recent examples of this burgeoning genre. But at least that means I might be able to read this tome with something of a fresh mind.
If you read and understand a sentence such as `Follow your passion' - you have the essence of this book. But it's long in the telling: following one's passion takes on a quasi-religious role denoted as the `Element' (with a capital `E'). Like all religions, no proof of the metaphysics is offered; instead we are forced to sit through a long list of examples from the world of celebrity. (And I couldn't help wondering: "Sure. Paul McCartney is great. And is, no doubt, following his passion and doing very well out of that. With no disrespect to myself, I am probably not a Paul McCartney"). A few more examples of how ordinary Jill & Joe had found their passion and were now living extraordinary lives would have added to this book. Sadly, such examples are lacking, apart from the odd reference to a car salesman who likes taking surfing photos (which didn't do much for me).
I will acknowledge that the book did make me painfully aware that my working life was not spent with my `Tribe'. Although whether my `Element' and `Tribe' truly exist and whether I can find them, I am no more the wise.
The book could have been so much more if it offered a way for us to actually find our Element. Instead, we are required to sit through more dreary examples and a critique of the modern education system, which may be of some interest to those with a particular concern for education, but is of little interest, perhaps, to those of us looking to change our lives some distance away from childhood education. Again, I agree that Paul McCartney may not have benefited much from his formal education; but for the rest of us, unless we have a major hidden talent, it probably does pay to pass a few exams before we face the world of work.
In the end, I was reminded of Hume's injunction (on books concerning reasoning), if the book hadn't cost so much, it was better committed to flames. As I said at the beginning, I haven't read much of this genre, but I'm sure there are far better books out there to assist one move, say, out a of mid-life crisis or into one's life career.
Many Ways to be Smart September 9, 2009
Jan Hart (Logan Utah)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
As an experienced teacher, observing children for years, I was excited to hear what I so believe. I really had a love and passion for teaching, but I am retired now. I miss it, but I have a jewelry business now. Guess what I used to do as a child?
Showing reviews 1-5 of 54
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