How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci:
Seven Steps to Genius Every Day by
Michael J. Gelb
Take The Journey
Heres a personal growth guidebook thats won the admiration and
recommendation of Ted Hughes, Poet Laureate of England. He calls this
a brilliant, practical guide to awakening and training our vast, unused
resources of intelligence and ability. Author Michael Gelb, founder of High
Performance Learning and consultant for companies including AT&T and
National Public Radio, says that we all can unlock the da Vincian genius
inside us. Gelb says there are seven critical principles that need to be
followed for success, whether youre learning a new language, studying to
be a gourmet chef, or just hoping to be more effective on the job:
Curiosita: An insatiably curious approach to life. Dimonstratzione: A
commitment to test knowledge through experience. Sensazione: The
continual refinement of the senses, especially sight, as the means to
clarify experience. Sfumato: A willingness to embrace ambiguity, paradox,
and uncertainty. Arte/Scienza: The development of the balance between

science and art, logic and imagination (whole-brain thinking). Corporalita:
The cultivation of ambidexterity, fitness, and poise. Connessione: A
recognition and appreciation for the connectedness of all things and
phenomena; systems thinking. Gelb discusses each of these principles in
relation to what da Vinci accomplished, thereby giving this book a built-in
history lesson. The illustrations from the masters work and time add a nice
warmth to the work. As the president of NPR said after working with Gelb,
this is a program recommended for anyone who wants to experience a
personal and professional Renaissance.
Personal Review: How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci: Seven
Steps to Genius Every Day by Michael J. Gelb
I've long admired and been inspired by Leonardo, so I'm attracted to any
decent book on him. Gelb's book is more than decent, and is in fact quite
good, which is an evident reflection of his own great appreciation for
Leonardo.
Gelb organizes his understanding of Leonardo according to seven key
"principles" which he believes Leonardo exemplified and made him the
polymath and virtuoso that he was. While one could debate Gelb's list, I
think it's a reasonable list, and is certainly at least a helpful starting point.
Let's look at the list specifically:
1. Curiosita is the drive to understand, learn, and grow, and surely must be
the foundation for everything else. In terms of humanistic/positive
psychology, this is similar to the drive to actualize one's potential.
2. Dimostrazione is about grounding oneself in empirical reality, including
learning from experience. This reflects a scientific and pragmatic mindset.
3. Sensazione is about being genuinely perceptive, including both noticing
fine details (as taught in science and art) and being mindful in general (as
taught in some Eastern philosophies).
4. Sfumato is the necessity of becoming comfortable with the ambiguity,
paradox, and uncertainty we unavoidably encounter in our lives and the
world. Without this flexibility and adaptiveness of mind, we are doomed to
becoming confined within a very narrow domain of experience and our
effectiveness in life is greatly diminished.
5. Arte/Scienza is about balance between holistic/creative and
reductionistic/analytical thinking. I think that Gelb's choice of terminology
is a bit caricatured and misleading here, since both art and science require
both kinds of thinking if they are to be done well, but we all get his point ...
6. Corporalita is about maintaining your body's health and refining your
body's abilities. While physical ability could be considered a bonus, health
is clearly a necessary condition.

7. Connessione is about understanding and appreciating how everything is
connected. This relates to sfumato and the arte/scienza balance, and also
the modern theories of systems, networks, complexity, etc.
Building on this scheme of seven principles, Gelb provides a large number
of exercises intended to aid our development in each of these areas.
Hardly anyone will find time to do all of the exercises, but you could still try
a targeted selection of them. However, I have to say that I wonder about
the sense in doing such exercises. My understanding is that Leonardo
was immersed in and engaged in life itself, rather than "preparing" for life
by doing these sorts of somewhat contrived exercises. Can't the rest of us
do the same? I personally remain busy with activities which cover all of
Gelb's principles, and I wouldn't want to give up any of those activities for
the sake of doing exercises. To me, it's like the difference between playing
video games in your basement versus going out in the sun and
participating in actual sports.
My only other criticism of the book is that it seems to necessarily preach to
the choir. People who are already fans of Leonardo and what he was
trying to do will naturally be drawn to this book, but I wonder if this book
could have any real impact for people who don't come to it with curiosita in
the first place.
That said, if you're already a member of the choir, I think you'll enjoy this
book and might even be able to get something out of the exercises, so I
can recommend the book to you.
Note: I've gone through this book in both unabridged audiobook and print
format. Given all the exercises in the book, the audiobook is an unsuitable
format.
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