How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci: Seven Steps to Genius Every Day

asked by pits on November 12, 2006 5:29 PM

Here's a personal growth guidebook that's won the admiration and recommendation of Ted Hughes, Poet Laureate of England. He calls this "a brilliant, practical guide to awakening and training our vast, unused resources of intelligence and ability." Author Michael Gelb, founder of High Performance Learning and consultant for companies including AT&T and National Public Radio, says that we all can unlock the "da Vincian" genius inside us. Gelb says there are seven critical principles that need to be followed for success, whether you're learning a new language, studying to be a gourmet chef, or just hoping to be more effective on the job:

Curiosita: An insatiably curious approach to life. Dimonstratzione: A commitment to test knowledge through experience. Sensazione: The continual refinement of the senses, especially sight, as the means to clarify experience. Sfumato: A willingness to embrace ambiguity, paradox, and uncertainty. Arte/Scienza: The development of the balance between science and art, logic and imagination ("whole-brain thinking"). Corporalita: The cultivation of ambidexterity, fitness, and poise. Connessione: A recognition and appreciation for the connectedness of all things and phenomena; "systems thinking."

Gelb discusses each of these principles in relation to what da Vinci accomplished, thereby giving this book a built-in history lesson. The illustrations from the master's work and time add a nice warmth to the work. As the president of NPR said after working with Gelb, this is a program recommended for "anyone who wants to experience a personal and professional Renaissance."

Buy this book

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Reviews

How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci was a book I was required to read for a class and honestly was not thrilled about, but I ended up loving it! If you have any interest in da Vinci, this is a good book to read, and even if you don't, it will make you think more about what kind of thinker you are.

reviewed by dannyboy on November 13, 2006 5:21 AM

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There were a few good ideas here, just a lot of padding. Probably worth buying - if you get it used....

reviewed by redapple on November 29, 2006 12:31 PM

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Author, Michael Gelb, shares the secrets of one of the great minds of invention, art, creativity that the human race has ever seen. Learn the seven "principles" of Leonardo's genius and how they can be developed in your life.

This not a thick, academic, work. It is highly accessible, filled with stories, quotes and do-able principles that will fan the flames of your own genius. Don't think you have it in you? Leonardo was curious and kept searching and asking. Along the way he fashioned breathtaking art and history-altering inventions. He could have settle for being the best decorative artist in his town. Instead he followed his mind, his heart, and his Creator-given passions to think like few others before or since.

Think you can't do it? Spend an afternoon with Leonardo (and his friend Gelb) and learn "How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci." Maybe somebody will write a book about you someday.

reviewed by costa on November 29, 2006 4:52 PM

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Michael Gelb has spent a lifetime studying Leonardo. This book distills the key principles that Leonardo lived by and shows how we too may take our own journey of self-discovery toward excellence.

In my book, The Human Fabric, Leonardo is cited as an example of an incredible Maven (and importantly, not a Relater or Evangelist). Discovering our core energy/talent is indeed the starting point. Once we discover it, we must relentlessly deepen it. Leonardo is the finest example we have of the deepening process for Mavens.

In his book, Gelb describes Leonardo's seven principles. It's notable that three of the principles: Sfumato, Arte/Scienza and Connessione, all deal with bringing together opposites and seeing connections between things that don't initially seem to be related. We see this quality replicated in other great Mavens like Einstein, who was able to bring light, matter and energy together in his famous equation. Relaters and Evangelists do the same, but with people and causes, respectively, rather than knowledge.

reviewed by siriusfanboy on November 29, 2006 7:07 PM

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add a new book!