The End of Average

How We Succeed in a World That Values Sameness

By: Todd Rose

Narrated by: Fred Sanders

Length: 6 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

All educators and parents should read this

Excellent book and very enlightening. It explains in elegant detail about how everything we thought we knew about people is wrong. I believe that everyone should read this, but especially educators and parents.

eye opening!

a must read for educators, parents, students! could not agree more, people are far more complex than one dimension.

Fantastic book!

This is a must read for educators, entrepreneurs, politicians, managers, etc. It is about time someone made such a compelling and strong point on such an important subject.

Love Todd Rose perspective on the world

I am a Todd Rose fan - I was introduced to Against Empathy a few weeks ago and since have read every book in his collection.

The End of Average is an excellent book that will change the way you think about the modern world. I am a lover of statistics and even keep a Galton Board on my desk always within reach to remind myself about averages and deviations. This book made me reconsider what I thought I know.

If you want to grow intellectually - Todd Rose is a great author to follow.

Life changing

Super interesting. Very life changing book. Definitely read this book. It is worth every moment.
Hopefully, we can change society for the better with some of these ideas.