Book Review: The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything
Author: Ken Robinson
Length: 304 pages
Intent/Focus: To inspire people to find their own unique passion
What You Will Learn: Finding “the Element” is essential for transforming education, business, and communities. On a more personal level, finding your own Element will helpyou feel inspired to reach your highest level of achievement.
Why We Recommend It: Within at least one of the anecdotes Robinson provides, there is a message that will trigger each reader’s imagination and help them discover theirElement. Robinson also includes a discussion of the educational system that may help us to support our students in finding their passion.
Summary:
“The key … is not to standardize education, but to personalize it, to build achievement on discovering the individual talents of each child, to putstudents in an environment where they want to learn and where they can naturally discover their true passions.” ~ Ken Robinson
The knighted Sir Ken Robinson, renowned for his 2005 address at the TED conference, has written two successful books on “The Element” – which he defines asthe point at which natural talent meets personal passion. In The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything, published in 2010, he showsthat finding the Element is essential for transforming education, business, and communities. On a more personal level, he asserts that finding your ownElement will help you feel inspired to reach your highest level of achievement.
Sir Robinson uses anecdotes from well-known personalities such as Paul McCartney (singer), Meg Ryan (actress), Paul Samuelson (economist) and Paolo Coelho(writer) to illustrate his points. He contends that intelligence is diverse, dynamic and distinct, and urges educators not to squander students’ uniquetalents through overly-standardized approaches to learning. Although critical of the education system, the book is pro-teacher.
Reviews
The vast majority of readers find inspiration in this book. It offers marvelous insights on creativity and uplifting examples of life-changing moments inpeople's lives. The range of real-life stories presented is remarkably diverse, keeping us engaged while illustrating that no two Elements are the same.The hope is that within at least one of these examples, there is a message that will trigger each reader’s imagination and help them discover theirElement.
On the Other Hand
“If you're not prepared to be wrong, you'll never come up with anything original.” ~ Ken Robinson
For some readers, Sir Robinson missed the mark. The two most prevalent complaints are:
- There aren’t enough examples of ordinary people, who achieve more modest (and perhaps more realistic) levels of creativity and success. One reader said, “I've already heard about the lucky ones; I want to know about the rest of us.”
- The book fails to provide a clear formula for finding YOUR passion. Some readers found it discouraging, as if it simply served to show what was lacking in their lives. One reader, however, countered this complaint by saying, “If you understand this book, you'll know what you have to do.”
While some found the discussion of the educational system to be irrelevant to their lives, that section of the book may help us as educators by remindingus to support our students’ unique talents and assist them in finding their passion.
“For most of us, the problem isn’t that we aim too high and fail – it’s just the opposite – we aim too low and succeed.” ~ Ken Robinson
Other Books by the Author
Creative Schools: The Grassroots Revolution That’s Transforming Education- 2015
Finding Your Element: How to Discover Your Talents and Passions and Transform Your Life– 2014
Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative- 2011
Ken Robinson’s Website: www.sirkenrobinson.com
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