...mediocre people find their way into positions of authority...because when it comes to even the most important positions, our selection decisions are a good deal less rational than we think.

What does it say about a society that it devotes more care and patience to the selection of those who handle its money than of those who handle its children?

People can't do much about the fate part, but we can certainly do a lot about the man part.

I should point out that I have a picture of Asbel Kiprop as the screensaver on my phone. Is that embarrassing?

Achievement is talent plus preparation. The problem with this view is that the closer psychologists look at the careers of the gifted, the smaller the role innate talent seems to play and the bigger the role preparation seems to play.

We sometimes think of being good at mathematics as an innate ability. You either have "it" or you don't. But to Schoenfeld, it's not so much ability as attitude. You master mathematics if you are willing to try.

When it's easy to make money, you have no incentive to think about development of talent.