This is my assignment that I had uploaded it as my first project, in English Composition I: Achieving Expertise class, on the Coursera. I took some classes from Coursera to improve my English and writing skill. Even it’s not my best approach, but I wish you can learn from some mistakes I had done 🙂

The project is making a review and use some quotations from Daniel Coyle’s book, The Talent Code. The participant must read the first chapter, “The Sweet Spot”, taken from here. So, this is how I wrote it 🙂

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Daniel Coyle, as the author of the Talent Code, has the conviction that talent is not everything. Maybe it is related to quote from Einstein, that success comes from 1% talent and 99% effort. And Coyle belief, everyone can achieve their target, conjunction with their harder effort. Gen as the talents, is not the primary key to achieving success.

Coyle explained about focus or concentration, that can make somebody get the better achievement (Coyle, 2009, p. 13). It is proven by his example, that being so focus sometimes can’t give us the best performance. If our focus is wrong, it will lead to the fail, because we are not consider if there are something wrong with the target, and the way to achieve it.

How about environment?

Coyle said, the environment is including friendly climate, deep passion and condition (Coyle, 2009, 15). For example in Brazil. There are so many football players, the good ones, who always become a star in their group. Why can it be so many players from Brazil. Coyle concluded that the situation always supports the young one to explore their football skill. The climate is positive, and experience has proven that a football player can be from many backgrounds. This positive ambience also increasing the passion to be a player. The young learner look around in their environment, and feel football as the comfortable zone. When they look up to the football star, they will get the highest motivation. Because poverty becomes a problem in this country, and being a footbal player has become their dream to solve all the financial problem.

But once again, Coyle emphasized to the effort, to realize it. He called it the deep practice. The deep practice consists of two methods (Coyle, 2009, p. 18), first is doing it on different ways, the second is struggling with certain target ways. Both of them have the same effect, the learner must slow down their effort to reach target, because there is a possibility they will make mistakes.

Coyle also emphasized in making mistakes, as a part of their process. When somebody do something, and do wrong, he or she will remember when they correct that mistake. That’s why people will learn, not only remember, to make it better. This process is called Sweet Spot (Coyle, 2009, p. 19). Sweet Spot is the optimal gap between what you know and what you’re trying to do.

One of Coyle’s examples is about the US Mail delivery. Instead of asking when are these airmail killing going to stop, the right question is there a better way to learn to fly. Going better and better, is the key of successfulness. Edwin Albert Link, Jr., who didn’t have any supporting environment in flying, had a deep passion for this activity. Trying a lot of new ways, get mistaken, never disappear, are the key why in the end of the story, he got a conviction from the US President, Franklin D. Roosevelt.

The other story is about Brazil’s football player. Why this country can produce so many stars? It comes from the experience ‘football in the room’ or Futsal. They didn’t care where they must do the play, but they play wherever they are. It makes them touch the ball more often than a regular exercise in the field. It also makes them more expert because playing football in a limited space is more difficult than in a field. This activity inspired Simon Clifford, the founder of Brazilian Soccer School in Scotlandia, and now he is creating more stars.

Reference :
Coyle, Daniel. “The Sweet Spot.”The Talent Code. Greatness Isn’t Born. It’s Grown. Here’s How. New York: Bantam, 2009. 11-29.

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