Mastery

Robert Greene argues that the capacity for mastery is already present in every person, and that the work lies in drawing it out. The book sets out a path for anyone who wants to reach the top of a chosen field.

That path begins with learning the inner workings of the field and then accepting a demanding apprenticeship. Along the way the reader absorbs the unwritten knowledge held by people with long experience. Later stages call for outdoing rivals and breaking established patterns from the inside.

Greene builds the argument by studying how Albert Einstein, Charles Darwin and Leonardo da Vinci worked and behaved. He adds interviews with nine contemporary Masters, so the advice rests on named examples from both past and present.

This is non-fiction in the self-development vein, written as a practical guide. Greene has spent years studying power and strategy, and he turns that attention here to the question of how ordinary talent becomes outstanding skill. It suits readers who are deciding how to commit to a craft or career.