Late Bloomers: The Power of Patience in a World Obsessed with Early Achievement

by Rich Karlgaard

I don’t think I have ever read an introduction as fascinating as Rich Karlgaard’s in Late Bloomers. With phrases like “trickle down societal madness for early achievement” he puts the reader into his world and his viewpoint. It’s not that he is opposed to the young people with scores of 800 on their SAT who create fantastic wealth in their early twenties. He does resent what our culture’s adoration of them does to the rest of us, those whose potential is downgraded because our star doesn’t rise at the same pace or shine as brightly. 

In Late Bloomers we are brought to an understanding of the history and psychology of the conveyer belt systems of education and business that have led us to the current sad state of affairs. Karlgaard explains how late bloomers struggle in this early achievement focused society and how society suffers for not valuing late bloomers. This book is replete with examples—J.K. Rowling, Einstein, and the author himself, to name a few—of late bloomers. It also carefully examines the available psychological research and what it tells us about late bloomers. A large portion of the book is devoted to sharing what late bloomers and society can do to make the whole system function more successfully.

As a teacher, I applaud Karlgaard’s revelation of the background of our harmful testing culture designed to create cogs in an industrial wheel. As a parent, I agree with his theories about development occurring in different ways and times for individuals. I am especially intrigued by the promotion of a “gap year” (or two) for young people, giving them extra time for brain development before they are expected to “adult.” I can see the need for viewing 18-25 as a stage of life when, for most, that important brain maturation in the prefrontal cortex is still in process.

The main body of the book is addressed to the late bloomer, which Karlgaard argues is most of us. It is full of research studies which interestingly support his advice to the late bloomer—how to survive in a world that disparages late blooming and how to, in fact, bloom despite a society that does not value late blooming. The introduction and first three chapters of this book should be required reading for every teacher, administrator, policy maker, business entrepreneur, parent, and concerned citizen. Did I leave anyone out? After that, most will want to finish the book. Especially the late bloomers out there, the ones who have not yet “found themselves” or met their full potential.

I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Crown Publishing (Currency) for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 5/5

Category: Self-Help, Education, Parenting

Notes: Rich Karlgaard, self-proclaimed late bloomer, is the publisher of Forbes Media, an author, and the founder of several businesses.

Publication:   April 16, 2019—Crown Publishing (Currency)

Memorable Lines:

Being seen as a potential late bloomer was once a mark of vitality, patience, and pluck. Nowadays, more and more, it is seen as a defect (there must be a reason you started slowly, after all) and a consolation prize. This is an awful trend, since it diminishes the very things that make us human—our experiences, our resilience, and our lifelong capacity to grow.

Just when we should be encouraging kids to dream big, take risks, and learn from life’s inevitable failures, we’re teaching them to live in terror of making the slightest mistake.

…social media has now become our most toxic cultural mirror.

Reducing education to test preparation jeopardizes the quality of curricula and the craft of teaching. It drains education of humanity.