Ken Robinson’s speech at the 2006 TED conference has been downloaded more than a million times. And now he has a book!

Discovering the Element is all about allowing yourself access to all of the ways in which you experience the world, and discovering where your own true strengths lie.

Just don’t take them for granted.

The element is the point at which natural talent meets personal passion. When people arrive at the element, they feel most themselves and most inspired and achieve at their highest levels. The Element draws on the fascinating stories of a wide range of people, from ex-Beatle Paul McCartney to Matt Groening, creator of “The Simpsons”; from Meg Ryan to Mick Fleetwood, drummer for Fleetwood Mac, to physicist Richard Feynman, singer Bob Dylan and others, including business leaders and athletes. It explores the components of this new paradigm: The diversity of intelligence, the power of imagination and creativity, and the importance of commitment to our own capabilities.

The world is changing faster than ever in our history. Our best hope for the future is to develop a new paradigm of human capacity to meet a new era of human existence. We need to evolve a new appreciation of the importance of nurturing human talent along with an understanding of how talent expresses itself differently in every individual. We need to create environments—in our schools, in our workplaces, and in our public offices—where every person is inspired to grow creatively. We need to make sure that all the people have a chance to do what they should be doing by discovering the Element in themselves and in their own way.

Here’s how Ken Robinson sums it up:

This book is a hymn to the breathtaking diversity of human talent and passion and to our extraordinary potential for growth and development. It’s also about understanding the conditions under which human talents will flourish or fade. It’s about how we can all engage more fully in the present, and how we can prepare in the only possible way for a completely unknowable future. To make the best of ourselves and of each other, we urgently need to embrace a richer conception of human capacity. We need to embrace the Element.

“A great and inspiring book. It’s been said that an unexamined life is not worth living. True enough and Ken Robinson doesn’t let us off the hook. After the first page, you have to abandon your ego and look for your own gifts and graces.” —Warren Bennis, author of On Becoming a Leader

Visit www.SirKenRobinson.com.