The Element by Ken Robinson

Ken Robinson gets a lot of respect from educators and just about everyone else who is interested in creativity and learning. He is well known for his views on how schools tend to have the opposite effect of that desired. He claims schools kill creativity in children and, more often than we'd like to admit, turn them into cogs in the giant wheel of industry. He's not far wrong on that.

In The Element Robinson discusses the importance of "finding one's element." He defines one's "element" as that thing which ignites passion and drive in a person, leading them to pursue it until ultimately success and great personal satisfaction are achieved. A personal element could be music, dance, a sport, a technology, or an idea. Anything really.

Sit Ken (yes, he is a Knight) writes in a pleasant and conversational style, which makes the book quite a pleasure to read. But can it help YOU find your element? If you are looking for a step-by-step guide for finding your element and making it big, you won't find it here. I admit, I was kind of hoping for that! But, alas...

What Robinson does do though is provide an extensive series of personal stories about the lives of people who have indeed found their element. These stories are interesting and inspiring even. One thing seems to stand out too. Almost none of the people profiled in The Element (some you have heard of and some you haven't) liked school and in most cases they weren't even very good at it. They were interested in other things besides learning a rote curriculum. Things that were, as often as not, not valued by parents, teachers or friends. School in fact, seems to play a relatively minor role in person's overall success in life. Interesting eh?

The take home message seems to be this:

1. Work hard at what you love.
2. Do not be discouraged by naysayers, even if they happen to be husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, or parents (that's does seem hard doesn't it?).
3. Stick with it.

When you are working on something that inspires you to do those three things, you will have found your element. When you are in your element, that is when you are most likely to find a great deal of success and personal satisfaction in what you do. It's pretty hard to argue with that.

For those who are unfamiliar with Ken Robinson's ideas on creativity and education, I invite you to watch his TED talk presented in the following video.