It is not every day that one sees an article in Ski Racing magazine1 that refers to a summary of research on the development of expertise published in the Harvard Business Review2. The quote at the beginning of the Ski Racing article caught my attention:
New research shows that outstanding performance is the product of years of deliberate practice and coaching, not of any innate talent or skill.
Parents, coaches, and older athletes should read the Ski Racing article, because it underscores how high levels of achievement—across a compellingly broad range of pursuits—takes time, repetition, systematic practice, and good coaching.
Those of us who live near Big Sky Resort are fortunate: Our kids have the opportunity to ski frequently on great terrain under the guidance of expert coaches who understand that the road to expertise is long—and the process, therefore, needs to emphasize fun and learning rather than short-term results.
1Coaches Ed: Deliberate Practice is Key to Success, Ski Racing, November 7, 2007, p. 50.
2The Making of an Expert, Harvard Business Review, July–August 2007.
Here are some extended quotes from the HBR article that I found particularly noteworthy.
Experts are made, not born.
Consistently and overwhelmingly, the evidence showed that experts are always made, not born. These conclusions are based on rigorous research that looked at exceptional performance using scientific methods that are verifiable and reproducible...The journey to truly superior performance is neither for the faint of heart nor for the impatient. The development of genuine expertise requires struggle, sacrifice, and honest, often painful self-assessment. There are no shortcuts. It will take you at least a decade to achieve expertise, and you will need to invest that time wisely, by engaging in "deliberate" practice—practice that focuses on tasks beyond your current level of competence and comfort.
Practice deliberately.
Not all kinds of practice makes perfect. You need a particular kind of practice—deliberate practice—to develop expertise. When most people practice, they focus on the things they already know how to do. Deliberate practice is different. It entailes considerable, specific, and sustained efforts to do something you can't do well—or even at all. Research across domains shows that it is only by working at what you can't do that you turn into the expert you want to become...
Deliberate practice involves two kinds of learning: improving the skills you already have and extending the reach and range of your skills. The enormous concentration required to undertake these twin tasks limits the amount of time you can spend doing them...It is interesting to note across a wide range of experts, including athletes, novelists, and musicians, very few appear to be able to engage in more than four or five hours of high concentration and deliberate practice at a time. In face, most expert teachers and scientists set aside only a couple of hours a day, typically in the morning, for their most demanding mental activities...
Take Time—You'll Need It
By now it will be clear that it takes time to become an expert. Our research shows that even the most gifted performers need a minimum of 10 years (or 10,000 hours) of intense training before they win international competitions. In some fields, the apprenticeship is longer: It now takes most elite musicians 15 to 25 years of steady practice, on average, before they succeed at the international level.
Though there are historical examples of people who attained an international level of expertise at an early age...In most fields, the bar of performance has risen steadily...Increasingly stiff competition now makes it almost impossible to beat the ten-year rule...
Not only do you have to be prepared to invest time in becoming an expert, but you have to start early—at least in some fields. Your ability to attain expert performance is clearly constrained if you have fewer opportunities to engage in deliberate practice, and this is far from a trivial constraint.
Find Expert Coaches
Eventually, all top performers work closely with teachers who have themselves reached international levels of achievement...Having expert coaches makes a difference in a variety of ways. To start with, they can help you accelerate your learning process...The development of expertise requires coaches who are capable of giving constuctive, even painful, feedback...The elite performers we studied knew what they were doing right and concentrated on what they were doing wrong. They deliberately picked unsentimental coaches who would challenge them and drive them to higher levels of performance. The best coaches also identify aspects of your performance that will need to be improved at your next level of skill.
In the context of skiing, Ski Racing observes:
[C]oaches need to remember the "early years" (up to 12 and 13 years old) are characterized by enjoyment, play and gradual learning in a social environment that promotes a growing and deepening interest in sport. Fun, associations with peers, parental approval and support, and the enjoyment of becoming more proficient at the sport are all important motivations for continued participation and progress...the reason young athletes quite a sport...is a "failure to learn new skills, lack of fun and excitement, lack of affiliation, no challenge, and failure."
Comments