The End of Average: How We Succeed in a World That Values Sameness - Hardcover

Rose, Todd

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9781443437134: The End of Average: How We Succeed in a World That Values Sameness

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1443437131 ISBN 13: 9781443437134

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers, 2016

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In this ground-breaking book perfect for readers of The Power of Habit and Quiet, Harvard scientist Todd Rose shows how our one-size-fits-all world is actually one-size-fits-none.

Each of us knows we’re different. We’re a little taller or shorter than the average, our salary is a bit higher or lower than the average, and we wonder about who it is that is buying the average-priced home. All around us, we think, are the average people―with the average height, the average salary and the average house.

But the average doesn’t just influence how we see ourselves―our entire social system has been built around this average-size-fits-all model. Schools are designed for the average student. Healthcare is designed for the average patient. Employers try to fill average job descriptions with employees on an average career trajectory. Our government implements programs and initiatives to serve the average person. For more than a century, we’ve believed that the best way to run our institutions is by focusing on the average person. But when you actually drill down into the numbers, you find an amazing fact: no one is average―which means that our society built for everyone is actually serving no one.

In the 1950s, the American Air Force found itself with a massive problem―performance in expensive, custom-made planes was suffering terribly, with crashes peaking at seventeen in a single day. Since the state-of-the-art planes they were flying had been meticulously crafted to fit the average pilot, pilot error was assumed to be at fault. Until, that is, the Air Force investigated just how many of their pilots were actually average. The shocking answer: out of thousands of active-duty ?pilots, exactly zero were average. Not one. This discovery led to simple solutions (like adjustable seats) that dramatically reduced accidents, improved performance, and expanded the pool of potential pilots. It also led to a huge change in thinking: planes didn’t need to be designed for everyone―they needed to be designed so they could adapt to suit the individual flying them.

The End of Average shows how success lies in customizing to our individual needs in all aspects of our lives, from the way we mark tests to the medical treatment we receive. Using principles from The Science of the Individual, it shows how we can break down the average to create individualized success that benefits everyone in the long run. It’s time we stopped settling for average, and in The End of Average, Todd Rose will show you how.

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From the Back Cover:

Are you above average? Is your child an A student? Is your employee an introvert or an extrovert? Every day, we are judged according to how close we come to, or how far we deviate from, the yardstick of averages.

The assumption that comparative metrics like school grades, personality test results, or performance review ratings can reveal something meaningful about our potential is so ingrained in our consciousness that we seldom question it. That assumption, says Harvard’s Todd Rose, is spectacularly—and scientifically—wrong.

In The End of Average, Rose proves 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 patterns of behavior are lost in schools and businesses that have been designed around the mythical “average person.” This average-size-fits-all model ignores our differences and fails to recognize talent. It’s time to change it.

Weaving science and history together with his personal experiences, Rose offers an alternative to understanding individuals through averages that will help us appreciate uniqueness, and shows us how to take advantage of individuality to gain an edge in life.

About the Author:

Todd Rose is the director of the Mind, Brain, and Education program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where he leads the Laboratory for the Science of Individuality. He is also the cofounder and president of the Center for Individual Opportunity, an organization dedicated to providing leadership around the emerging science of the individual. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

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