The Talent Lab: How to Turn Potential into World-Beating Success

by Owen Slot

Longlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award

Simon Timson and Chelsea Warr were the Performance Directors of UK Sport, tasked with the outrageous objective of delivering even greater success to Team GB and ParalympicsGB at Rio than in 2012. Something no other host nation had ever achieved in the next Games.

In The Talent Lab, Owen Slot brings unique access to Team GB’s intelligence, sharing for the first time the incredible breakthroughs and insights they discovered that often extend way beyond sport. Using lessons from organisations as far afield as the Yehudi Menuhin School of Music, the NFL Draft, the Royal College of Surgeons and the SAS, it shows how talent can be discovered, created, shaped and sustained.

Charting the success of the likes of Chris Hoy, Max Whitlock, Adam Peaty, Ed Clancy, Lizzy Yarnold, Dave Henson, Tom Daley, Jessica Ennis-Hill, Katherine Grainger, the Brownlee Brothers, Helen Glover, Anthony Joshua and the women’s hockey team, The Talent Lab tells just how it was done and how any team, business or individual might learn from it.

Genres: Sports, Nonfiction, Business

304 pages, ebook

First published January 14, 2016

Reviews

[Lyndsey Jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting except for the chapter on managing women which 1) was predicated on the idea that the male and female brain are different, rather than, say, treated differently from birth 2) implies the coach is always going to be male.

[Jamie Bowen · Rating 5 out of 5]

No Olympic/Paralympic Host country had gone on to the next games and increased their medal totals, until Team GB in Rio 2016. This is the incredible story of how the success of London 2012 was built upon and surpassed. A very interesting read covering many different sports, with lessons which can be translated back to business. Whilst Lottery funding has helped, as this book proves throwing money at a sport does not guarantee success, investing it correctly is the key to success. So why not speak to investment companies to learn from them? This is just one example of what the book covers, Team GB looks far and wide to keep improving.

[Angeli Savas · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very inspiring book and important book for parents of aspiring athletes

The book tells many inspiring stories not just of Olympic heroes but of successful people and businesses and how they got there. As a parent of an aspiring athlete this was also an eye opener and made me reflect about my behaviour on the side of the pitch and away from it. I have learned what my role as a parent should be (and that is not to be a coach) and my shortsightedness when it comes to the results. Although my child may not become a professional athlete at least I am now armed with skills to help him play his sport for as long as he can.

[Victor Valore · Rating 5 out of 5]

A kaleidoscope of projects and initiatives within the British Elite Sports establishment and their outcomes, all structured around a timeline of the last 6-8 Olympic Games. The book is very much worth reading as inspiration for elite sport leaders and will provide insights and inspiration. What I might feel the book is lacking a little, would be more of a conclusion and maybe trying to put the different projects into a bit more perspective, than merely the tally of Olympic medals at the Rio games.

[David Fish · Rating 5 out of 5]

Talent Lab delivers a lot of great ideas of how to be more mindful with approaching high performance sport and working towards constructive outcomes. I marked up a pretty good amount and will need to refer back to my notes, but a ton of amazing insight to apply back to my current role and definitely future ones. I especially enjoyed portions that covered clean vs dirty feedback and approaches towards being innovative.

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was recommended this book by a coach I interned with over the summer, and this book is probably one of my favorite books I have read to date! It shows how being an innovator and an intelligent person goes further than just doing well in school. The book encourages others to ask questions, learn from others, and to seek out what they are looking for. I truly believe there is something everyone can pull from this book to better themselves, their teams, theirs businesses. I will always recommend this book.

[Wilde Sky · Rating 4 out of 5]

The secrets of success (in terms of management) of elite athletes is discussed in this book.

This was a “random library pick”, but I found it quite interesting – more on the business side would have been interesting.

Overall rating 3.5

[Charlotte Ashdown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really interesting even for someone who knows nothing about the olympics and very relatable for many industries. I’ve recommended this book to least 6 people so far and I can imagine I’ll be recommending it and talking about it to quite a few more too!

[Vinay Babla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Learnt a lot

I loved how there were bullet pointed learnings to take away at the end of each chapter that we could directly apply to our own lives.

[S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating and thought provoking.

[Upen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great insight how detailed the GB team is willing to go to create gold medal winners. What a turn around from Athens. Truly great to know how they great champions. Well worth a read and so many things to implement.