Best 11 quotes of Matthew Syed on MyQuotes

Every endeavour pursued with passion produces a successful outcome, regardless of the result. For it is not about winning or losing – rather, the effort put forth in producing the outcome.

Mere experience, if it is not matched by deep concentration, does not translate into excellence.

Progress is built, in effect, upon the foundations of necessary failure.  That is the essential paradox of expert performance.

The practice sessions of aspiring champions have a specific and never-changing purpose: Progress.  Every second of every minute of every hour, the goal is to extend one's mind and body, to push oneself beyond the outer limits of one's capacities, to engage so deeply in the task that one leaves the training session, literally, a changed person.

When two peoples share a common passion: they are capable of empathising with each other's misery.

World-class performance comes by striving for a target just out of reach, but with a vivid awareness of how the gap might be breached.  Over time, through constant repetition and deep concentration, the gap will disappear, only for a new target to be created, just out of reach once again.

Creativity is, in many respects, a response.

Every error, every flaw, every failure, however small, is a marginal gain in disguise. This information is regarded not as a threat but as an opportunity.

...innovation is highly context-dependent. It is a response to a particular problem at a particular time and place. Take away the context, and you remove both the spur to innovation, and its raw material.

Marginal gains is not about making small changes and hoping they fly. Rather, it is about breaking down a big problem into small parts in order to rigorously establish what works and what doesn't.

Overcoming the blame tendency is a defining issue in the corporate world. Ben Dattner, a psychologist and organizational consultant, tells of an experience when he was working at the Republic National Bank of New York. He noticed a piece of paper that a co-worker had stapled to his cubicle wall. It read: 'The six phases of a project: 1. Enthusiasm 2. Disillusionment 3. Panic 4. Search for the guilty 5. Punishment of the innocent 6. Rewards for the uninvolved' Dattner writes: 'I have yet to come across a more accurate description of how most dramas play out in our working lives.