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

Are you above average? Is your child an A student? Is your employee an introvert or an extrovert?amp;#160;Every day we are measured against the yardstick of averages, judged according to how closely we come to it or how far we deviate from it.

The assumption that metrics comparing us to an averageamp;#8212;like GPAs, personality test results, and performance review ratingsamp;#8212;reveal something meaningful about our potential is so ingrained in our consciousness that we donamp;#8217;t even question it. That assumption, says Harvardamp;#8217;s Todd Rose, is spectacularlyamp;#8212;and scientificallyamp;#8212;wrong.

Inamp;#160;The End of Average, Rose, a rising star in the new field of the science of the individual shows thatamp;#160;no one is average. Not you. Not your kids. Not your employees. This isnamp;#8217;t hollow sloganeeringamp;#8212;itamp;#8217;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 amp;#8220;average person.amp;#8221; This average-size-fits-all model ignores our differences and fails at recognizing talent. Itamp;#8217;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. Theamp;#160;jaggedness principleamp;#160;(talent is always jagged),amp;#160;theamp;#160;context principleamp;#160;(traits are a myth),amp;#160;and theamp;#160;pathways principleamp;#160;(weamp;#160;allamp;#160;walk the road less traveled) help us understand our true uniquenessamp;#8212;and that of othersamp;#8212;and how to take full advantage of individuality to gain an edge in life.

Read this powerful manifesto in the ranks ofamp;#160;Drive, Quiet, and Mindsetamp;#8212;and you wonamp;#8217;t see averages or talent in the same way again.