Geoffrey Colvin is the author of ''Humans Are Underrated: What High Achievers Know That Brilliant Machines Never Will'' (); ''Talent is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else'' (); and ''The Upside of the Downturn: Management Strategies for Difficult Times''. He is co-author of ''Angel Customers and Demon Customers: Discover Which is Which and Turbocharge Your Stock'' (). He is a Senior Editor at Large for ''

Fortune Magazine ''Fortune'' (stylized in all caps) is an American global business magazine headquartered in New York City. It is published by Fortune Media Group Holdings, a global business media company. The publication was founded by Henry Luce in 1929. T ...

''.

Education

Colvin obtained a degree in economics from

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

and received his

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

from New York University's Stern School of Business.

''Talent is Overrated''

The thesis of ''Talent is Overrated'' is that the greatest achievers succeed through lifelong "deliberate practice." Colvin characterizes it as “activity designed specifically to improve performance, often with a teacher’s help; it pushes the practicer just beyond, but not way beyond, his or her current limits; it can be repeated a lot; feedback on results is continuously available; it’s highly demanding mentally, whether the activity is purely intellectual, such as chess or business-related activities, or heavily physical, such as sports; and it isn’t much fun". "Some 40 years of research show that specific, innate gifts are not necessary for great performance.

''Humans Are Underrated''

''Humans Are Underrated'' argues that as technology advances with increasing speed, the most valuable skills in the economy will be skills of deep human interaction – empathy, creative problem-solving in groups, storytelling – and that developing these skills will be crucial to the futures of individuals, companies, and nations. The book suggests that while demand for such skills is rising, supply may be falling as our increasingly digital lives cause these skills to atrophy. The imbalance of supply and demand, Colvin concludes, is making these skills even more valuable. With Karen Gibbs, Colvin was co-anchor of ''

Wall Street Week ''Bloomberg Wall Street Week'' (''WSW''), is an investment news and information TV program airing Friday nights on the Bloomberg Television. History The original weekly show hosted by Louis Rukeyser aired each Friday evening on PBS in the ...

with Fortune'' on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

for three years, successor of

Louis Rukeyser Louis Richard Rukeyser (January 30, 1933 – May 2, 2006) was an American financial journalist, columnist, and commentator, through print, radio, and television. He was the host of two television series, ''Wall Street Week with Louis Rukeyser' ...

. His daily reports "Inside Business" and “Fortune Business Update” are heard on the

CBS Radio Network CBS News Radio, formerly known as CBS Radio News and historically known as the CBS Radio Network, is a radio network that provides news to more than 1,000 radio stations throughout the United States. The network is owned by Paramount Global. It ...

, where he has made more than 10,000 broadcasts. Colvin is the brother of singer/songwriter

Shawn Colvin Shawn Colvin (born Shawna Lee Colvin, January 10, 1956) is an American singer-songwriter. She is best known for her 1997 Grammy Award-winning song "Sunny Came Home". Early life Colvin was born Shawna Lee Colvin in Vermillion, South Dakota, and ...

References

· · ''"Allan Sloan and Geoff Colvin". Q & A. Retrieved 1 December 2014.'' · · ''"Biography of Geoff Colvin". Phi Theta Kappa. Retrieved 25 October 2013.'' · · ''Colvin, Geoff, Talent is Overrated.'' · · ''Fortune Magazine Fortune Magazine. "Editorial Bios : Geoff Colvin".'' · · http://postcards.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2008/10/21/how-to-stretch-your-talent/ ;Footnotes

External links

*https://www.youtube.com/user/GeoffColvin/videos ** Appearances on

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American Cable television in the United States, cable and Satellite television in the United States, satellite television network, created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a Non ...

*** C-SPAN ''Q&A'' interview with Colvin and Allan Sloan, September 30, 2012 {{DEFAULTSORT:Colvin, Geoffrey Year of birth missing (living people) Living people People from Vermillion, South Dakota American business writers Fortune (magazine) people Harvard College alumni New York University Stern School of Business alumni