Practice makes perfect • 3 min read
Cognitive psychologist Ander Ericsson has spent his career studying the way in which experts acquire their skills.
One example from Ericsson's research looked at a group of world-class violinists. Each musician conducted approximately 50 hours of practice per week.
The research honed in on the way they practiced. It found that the BEST violinists practiced the same way: in the morning, in three increments of no more than 90 minutes each, with a BREAK between each one.
Ericsson found the same pattern among other elite performers including musicians, athletes, chess players and writers - deliberate practice was key for elite performance.
Introduction
Our best work comes about when we are giving 100% to a task. Whether we need to deliver a presentation or win a new client, our best chance of performing to the highest standard is when we are fully engaged in the moment. That means performing activities with a concentration that is deliberate and distraction-free.
Embedding new behaviours is often challenging because when we come up against a barrier, we often return to the behaviours (or tasks) that we’re familiar with and that are less cognitively demanding.
In this post we want to look at the importance of taking on challenges that are just beyond our current skill set.
Just about manageable challenges
The best way of stressing a capability is to undertake challenges that are just about manageable. The "sweet spot" is when the challenge is just beyond our current skill set. That’s when growth and learning are maximised.
Whatever skills we are looking to improve, be sure to push yourself to a point that is just beyond your current capabilities. After that, make the challenge just a little bit harder. That's when you will start to see those big muscles of yours grow. There is little benefit in taking on tasks that are far beyond your skill set. They will leave you demoralized and unwilling to step outside of your comfort zone.
When growing physical or cognitive muscles, one key thing that sets top performers apart is their ability to immerse themselves and focus on one task at a time. They have the ability to isolate the muscle, remove all distractions and perform DELIBERATE PRACTICE on that muscle until it begins to grow.
Deliberate practice...in practice!
Even the most complex skills can be broken down into its component parts which can be practiced, practiced, and you guessed it, practiced!
Let’s look at how Aisling can apply deliberate practice when preparing for a presentation.
Inside her comfort zone
She practices it by saying it in her head as she clicks through the slides. At the same time, she responds to emails, Instant Messages (IMs) and text messages that come in.
Outside her comfort zone
She leaves her phone in another room, turns off all notifications on her laptop, and blocks off 60 minutes in her calendar to practice it out loud as she clicks through the slides.
Developing her capability
She grows the muscle further by following the previous process, but this time, she practices it out loud with a friend or colleague to gather feedback.
Key takeaways
Our best work comes about when we perform activities with a concentration that is deliberate and distraction-free.
The best way of stressing a capability is to undertake challenges that are just beyond our current skill set.
The mere presence of a phone is likely to decrease your performance on a specific task.
Think big. act small
When stressing a capability, be sure that you are fully engaged...100% of you is there.
What distractions can you remove when performing deliberate practice in this development area?
Content sources
Deep Work, Cal Newport
TED Talks, The Official Guide to Public Speaking, Chris Anderson
The American Psychological Association, The Role of Deliberate Practice in the Acquisition of Expert Performance, Anders Ericsson, Ralf Krampe and Clemens Tesch-Romer
The Guardian, Blow to 10,000-hour rule as study finds practice doesn't always make perfect, Ian Sample
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