Quirky: The Remarkable Story of the Traits, Foibles, and Genius of Breakthrough Innovators Who Changed the World

Schilling, a professor at NYU’s Stern School of Business, takes a crack at the popular question of what makes a genius—and comes away largely empty-handed. Interested in the personality traits that separate the greats from the not so greats, she embarked on a familiar, ponderous consideration of the people who become “serial breakthrough innovators,” including Marie Curie, Albert Einstein, and Steve Jobs. She describes wanting to study people from a variety of backgrounds and in a variety of fields who are responsible for multiple objectively impressive innovations. The book finds that these people had some not-unexpected quirks in common: “High levels of social detachment,” self-confidence, idealism, creativity, and work ethic. No person being an island, Schilling’s subjects also had access to substantial resources—both in terms of finances and mentors. Schilling asks whether these traits can be cultivated in one’s own workforce. Her answer is that it is possible—with some effort. She rounds out the book with some ideas on how, such as by teaching employees about “building self-efficacy” and “finding the flow.” While she presents some interesting behind-the-scenes stories of famous innovators’ lives, there’s not enough new here, either in history or analysis, to break this out from the pack of similar titles. [em](Feb.) [/em]