His definition of “genius” today drawn from decades of research: A genius is a person of extraordinary mental powers whose original works or insights change society in some significant way for good or ill across cultures and time. In brief, the greatest genius produces the greatest impact on the greatest number of people over the longest period of time.

Giants of genius in past centuries such as Einstein, Shakespeare and Queen Elizabeth I to more contemporary geniuses from a wide variety of fields such MLK and Toni Morrison to Lady Gaga and Elon Musk.

The fourteen hidden habits of geniuses (he devotes a chapter to each of these habits)

Some unexpected outcomes he found during his research such as genius is not a heritable trait but a “one-off” phenomenon and the stereotypical notion of the genius as a brainiac who aces all the standardized tests of life is wrong in most cases.



“In the end, reading this book likely won’t make you a genius,” Wright concludes. “It will, however, force you to think about how you lead your life, raise your children, choose the schools they attend, allocate your time and money, vote in democratic elections, and, more important, how to be creative. Unlocking the habits of genius has changed me and my view of the world. Perhaps a careful reading of this book will change you as well.”