The Other 90%: How to Unlock Your Vast Untapped Potential for Leadership and Life

By Robert K. Cooper

Book Overview

For centuries, it has been assumed that there are vast limits to human capacity. Now, although a host of scientific discoveries prove this wrong, a mindset of limits persists, blocking us from our greatest possibilities and leaving us feeling bombarded by stress, change, and uncertainty. No matter how hard we work, no matter how much we give, we're still not getting what we hoped for. There is another way.

Dr. Robert Cooper, a neuroscience pioneer and leadership advisor, urges us to take a radically different view of human capacity. We are mostly unused potential, he says, employing less than 10 percent of our brilliance or hidden talents. In easy-to-follow steps, he explains how to develop and apply the art and science of your hidden capacity.

The art is the motivation and inspiration coming from the wonderful stories that are the heart of The Other 90%. Dr. Cooper draws on his wide-ranging insights and experiences to show how it's possible to make a difference in yourself and others.

However, inspiration without a way to turn vision into reality is an empty vessel. Combining art with science, Dr. Cooper provides extraordinary help in the form of specific, little-known practical ways to use the latest research in neuroscience, performance psychology, and work physiology for excelling in a pressure-filled world. He shows you how to:

* Increase energy at work -- and have more energy for personal and family life.

* Activate the brain's "alertness switches" to defeat pressure and stress.

* Use not only the brain in your head but the ones in your heart and gut.

* Motivate exceptional ingenuity and performance in yourself and others.

The most exciting breakthroughs will not come from advances in technology but from a deeper realization of what it means to be most human and alive. Many of the choices that can dramatically change our lives are simple and practical -- yet few people know what these choices are or how to apply them in work and life. The Other 90% is your guide to new territory and new challenges.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 060980880X
• ISBN13: 9780609808801
• Release Date: October 2002
• Publisher: Crown Publishing Group, The
• Length: 316 Pages
• Weight: 0.73 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.8" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Just Waiting to Be Developed

Cooper's grandfather once observed, "We only use about 10 percent of our potential in the course of a lifetime." The young grandson was strongly urged to seek out what the grandfather referred to as "the other 90%." Cooper cites studies which suggest that "we only use not one-tenth but one ten-thousanth [italics] of our capabilities!" This book was written to suggest how to locate and then develop the vast underdeveloped potential which all of us have. The material is organized within four sections, each of which is a "Keystone" of human fulfillment: Trust, Energy, Farsightedness, and Nerve. No brief commentary such as this can do full justice to the scope and depth of the "journey" of self-exploration which Cooper urges his reader to take. However, it may be helpful if I share these brief but representative excerpts. First, Cooper asserts that each of us has three separate but interdependent "brains", each of which he analyzes. "From a practical standpoint, reaching the peak of your true potential depends on developing and apply an energizing, authentic level of intelligence and bringing it to everything you do. For this to happen, you must combine the perceptions and impressions of the gut, heart, and mind." To conclude his book, Cooper shares a poem he wrote for his and others' children:"...To lead by example,Love as if you will live forever,Work as if you have no need for money,Dream as if no one can say no,Have fun as if you never have to grow up,Sing as if no one else is listening, Care as if everything depends on your caring,And raise a banner where a banner never flew."With both precision and eloquence, Cooper offers a variety of strategies and tactics to establish and then strengthen the four "Keystones" and, in process he suggests how to fulfill at least much (if not all) of the potential of each of the three "brains" (gut, heart, and mind). It remains for each reader to absorb and digest all this in ways and to the extent she or he deems appropriate. Ultimately, each reader must embark on what is certain to be a difficult journey to personal fulfillment. In some respects, it is inevitably a solitary journey. But in other respects, it will be guided and informed by what Cooper has so generously shared in this book. Those who share my high opinion of The Other 90% are urged to check out David Whyte's The Heart Aroused and David H. Maister's Practice What You Preach.

shining brightly

This book gets your attention! What I enjoyed most about this book is the authentic heart to heart stories that stand out about doing what matters most in your life. It inspires and gives you a direct action plan to help you excel in all you do. For techniques for better health and fitness to discovering your own unique expression in life. Its helped align and clarify my values, natural talents and strengths in a direction best suited for me. Roberts writing is clear and direct and delivers a crystal clear message on becoming more of who you are. His message shines like a spotlight to help guide one in this journey of life. Thanks Robert for a clear view.

Lots of concrete recommendations that you can take with you

I liked this book because the author provided lots of practical "how to" methods that I could start implementing.I also liked his stories. The author writes well. He also documents his points with out-of-the-way footnotes.He bares his soul to the reader.His most important point to me was the need to find out what we are good at doing. Build up our strengths and don't shore up our weaknesses.I'd say this could have been a "4 PLUS" book, but I had to give it a "5" because of all the recommended actions that I was able to glean from the book. Although all of the stories were interesting, certain subjects in the last 1/2 of the book (those I thought I knew about) got a little tedious. But the interesting stories kept me reading through to the end.Overall, I highly recommend this book.John Dunbar

Quite Simply the Best I've Read Yet

I was fortunate enough to read an advance copy of this book (a galley) and have thus had time to consider and implement much of what I learned, and so I can assure you that this is not only an unusually engaging and insightful book, but one whose practical value just keeps paying off, over and over again. I've read quite a few books in the genre over the past few years and this is quite simply the best. As Ken Blanchard said of it: "A timeless and unforgettable message! Nothing else in the leadership field compares to the emotional intensity and practical value of this book." Do yourself a favor today and buy this book--you will not regret it.

Well Articulated, Proven Ways to Improve Performance!

If you only read and apply one book this year, I suggest that it be this one. This book deserves more than five stars for being the most effective book I have seen for drawing on scientific evidence of how the mind and body work to point the way to optimum performance. The book benefits from having a few simple points to make, nicely connected to each other. The points are beautifully illuminated by personal stories in many cases that make the concepts easier to grasp and remember. Think of this book as the life planning and management equivalent of Live Right 4 Your Type. "The next frontier is not only in front of you, it is inside of you." For many years, children were told that humans use only 10 percent of their brains. This factoid is often associated with a suggestion to shut off the television and read a book. Scientific studies have built on that kind of observation to estimate that humans now function at only one ten-thousandth of their potential. So we need to set our sights higher, and focus our attention in ways that will close that enormous gap.Dr. Cooper points to four keystones, in this order: Trust, energy, farsightedness, and nerve. Trust is built around the notion of focusing on being exceptional and encouraging that trait in others. Rather than just an exhortation, Dr. Cooper presents proven tools. For example, you can get out of the rut that your mind encourages by asking yourself questions every week. "What's the most exceptional thing you've done this week?" "What's the most exceptional thing you're going to do next week?" He also points out how a confluence of how your mind, heart, and gut respond provides better direction than any one alone, and he provides the scientific background for that observation. Psychologically, we also do better when we focus on accomplishment rather than competition. So the way we set our goals is important. Frankly, the section on trust cuts through the underbrush of theories about how to improve much better than any other book I have read. Everyone else who writes about self-help is just opinion and personal experience by comparison. The energy keystone is all about taking timely action to pursue what you now perceive is possible. This section is useful and accurate but is much less original and compelling than the trust keystone.The farsightedness keystone is very effective in making the fundamental point that unless you strive for big things, you will only achieve the little things you pursue. Here is the source of most of the missed potential in our lives. Often the biggest steps forward are the easiest. We simply don't think about taking them. I especially liked the encouragement to hope irrationally, as a way to trigger your mind to find opportunities and solutions that you would otherwise miss. The final keystone is nerve, and it may be the second most important one. Almost everyone I know has some big dreams and ambitions. Few act on those dreams and ambitions