The Element

How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything

By: Ken Robinson Ph.D.

Narrated by: Ken Robinson Ph. D., Lou Aronica

Length: 8 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

The Element is the point at which natural talent meets personal passion. When people arrive at the Element, they feel most themselves, most inspired, and achieve at their highest levels.

The Element draws on the stories of a wide range of people: Paul McCartney; The Simpsons creator Matt Groening; Meg Ryan; Gillian Lynne, who choreographed the Broadway productions of Cats and The Phantom of the Opera; journalist Arianna Huffington; renowned physicist Richard Feynman; and many 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 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 an essential strategy for transforming education, business, and communities to meet the challenges of living and succeeding in the 21st century.

©2008 Ken Robinson, Ph.D (P)2009 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Motivating and persuasive, this entertaining and inspiring book will appeal to a wide audience." ( Publishers Weekly)
" The Element offers life-altering insights about the discovery of your true best self." (Stephen R. Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People)

Do not miss this book !!! Great great great !!!

Love everything about this book and onto reading Finding the element !!
Really all the explanations, the examples , how it's narrated , makes it a number one !!

Balanced though passionately argued point of view

Ken Robinson has spent most of the book providing examples of how people have found the thing they love to do best. And that is good, for it is clear that many times the discovery is serendipitous. What I liked best was the fact that he agrees that what we are passionate about may not be what we should always do to earn a living. I grew up in India where a college education has never guaranteed a job. When I was a child, I once asked my father what I should do, if I didn't enjoy my job. He replied immediately that I should use the money I earned to do what I liked. I hope people love what they do, but being impractical won't always make people happy and finding the Element is about being happy. Also schools should try to provide more opportunities for children to learn using whichever way suits them best and customize lessons, but that is no guarantee that children will know what they wish to do for the rest of their life, when they leave school. They will have to see what kind of needs they will be best suited to fulfill, given their own interests and sometimes there is no obvious match. So, they will just have to take up what opportunities are available and keep looking. What I enjoyed most was how keen Robinson was that people should not be too quick to give up looking for a job that they would enjoy intensely. Good book, good narration.

Calling for a Creative Revolution

This book is insightful and inspirational ...
A guide to living a balanced and creative life.

Relevant powerful anecdotes

I am inspired by this author. This reinforces my understanding of how to live my best life.

Is our education system working?

If you could sum up The Element in three words, what would they be?

Engaging. Relevant. Change.

What did you like best about this story?

Very interesting book. It really makes you think about how we approach education in our nation as well as the pursuit of the things that really energize us and what we're passionate about. The reader is the author and it is very well read. I recomment it.

What’s an idea from the book that you will remember?

You should follow your passions and encourage others to do the same.

Amazing

This is the most inspirational book I've ever experienced. I will listen to it more than once that's for sure. Well worth the credit!

Gets you moving

This book helps you see why you have felt like a fish out of water - and some suggestions for taking action. The reading is excellent. Don't go in expecting a ton of suggestions and steps, and you will be pleasantly surprised by the motivational aspect of the book to get moving in finding your element. Thanks.

Fantastic & Relevant. Current state of Education…

A great resource for help in understanding you or your children’s experience growing up in the education system. If you were a square peg being forced fit into a round hole, this book is for you. With research, data, and personal accounts, this book strives to help the reader understand that the high value placed on those who test well in the standardized education system as we know it today, should also be placed on those creatives who struggled in many forms with traditional education methods. But the book is much more than that. The wonderful stories that illustrate the author’s points are inspiring testaments to the people who invest their time and instill hope and faith into us.

Good examples and positive message

I enjoyed the vibe and encouragement from reading this book. Reading about the examples makes me feel that I can find my passion and live without fears and regrets. However, I do want to point out that Robinson, when talking about formal education, seems to downplay its role and usefulness in our society. I agree that the way things currently are may not be the best way to go about things, but for a task as widespread as public education, it works pretty efficiently. Yes it can be improved. But Robinson makes education the enemy of true creativity, which I think came across too intensely. The key is balancing passion with practicality. We should find something we enjoy, but there should be challenges and practicality within those things. Many of the people used as examples were artists, musicians, authors. In Robinson’s point of trying to show the importance of oft neglected subjects, he puts down “core” subjects. I believe that these core subjects are the core subjects for a reason. They may not be the only important subjects, but they are quite crucial for a well educated population. Overall, I was inspired and yet had many points I disagreed with. 4/5 overall.

just a great book from a great mind.

it's inspirational. it's great to hear it from Ken Robinson himself. I do recommend it.