Peak - Anders Ericsson and Robert Pool
Secrets from the New Science of Expertise
In any discipline we can identify people who are so much better than the rest. And we often think they must have been born with some incredible talent. And it’s true, they do have a special gift, but it’s a gift they got themselves.
“Perfect pitch”, the ability to identify any sound’s pitch/note, was thought for centuries to be a gift that only one in ten thousand would have, until a 2014 study by Ayako Sakakibara showed that it can be taught without fail to kids age 2 to 5.
We are all born with the same gift, the gift of an extremely adaptable brain that can learn extraordinary things given the right training.
Dedicated training that drives changes in the brain leads to extraordinary abilities.
Desire and hard work alone are not enough, it needs to be the right kind of training and practice. The key is “Deliberate Practice”.
1. The Power of Purposeful Practice
No matter the discipline, the most effective types of practice all follow the same patterns.
Usually when we learn a skill we take some lessons (in person, a book, online,…) and practice until we reach an acceptable level and the skill becomes automatic, and then we plateau in our skill.
This usual way of “naive practice” assumes that if we just practice a skill over and over again, we’ll keep improving.
Purposeful practice is the first step up from that. It has well-defined, specific goals.
Long term big goals are good, but the really useful ones are very clearly defined short term goals for each practice session.
Purposeful practice is focused. Need to give a task your full attention in order to improve.
Need feedback on whether we’re doing the task right, or if not, what’s wrong.
You need to get outside your comfort zone and train the boundary of your current skill level.
Operating at our boundary forces us to try new and different approaches.
One problem: purposeful work is hard work and often not fun. So motivation becomes key. Positive feedback, either internal satisfaction or external approval, can make a huge difference.
But this approach itself is also not enough to reach maximum potential.
2. Harnessing Adaptability
With physical improvements like bodybuilding it’s easy to measure progress. Much harder for mental ability like calculus or language.
As the famous London cab drivers study shows, learning a skill can physically change our brain (in their case a larger hippocampus) just like physical training grows muscles.
Experiments have clearly shown that the brain’s structure can change and adapt, with certain regions being given certain tasks as we learn these tasks.
The body is generally trying to remain in the same state (homeostasis), and adaptation (like muscle growth) is actually a result of that, keeping the body’s state the same given higher workload. More extreme stress can even trigger (de)activation of genes.
Change generally tries to reestablish homeostasis.
As a result, you constantly have to push, always operating just outside your comfort zone in order to keep up the changes.
Right handed string instrument players have significantly larger brain regions responsible for fine motor control of left fingers, and some regions usually used for touch sensitivity of palm have been repurposed for fingertips.
[Edward Taub et.al. study, p.44]
This incredible adaptability of the human body (and brain) points to a different approach to training/practice. Key is pushing beyond the comfortable. Need to push beyond “good enough”.
3. Mental Representations
Many chess grandmasters find themselves exceptionally good at blindfolded chess even though they never specifically practiced that.
Given actual chess situations, grandmasters can memorize them in incredibly short time. But with random arrangements they do no better than normal people. Brain relies on existing representations (“chunks”) stored in long term memory for this task.
Masters have accumulated up to 50k unique chunks, in a hierarchical structure.
Basically allows for more efficient encoding than remembering each piece’s position.
We all have mental representations, for example for particular words, e.g. “dog”. These representations are generally very domain specific.
General skills don’t exist.
[bq] “You don’t train your memory; you train your memory for strings of digits, or for collections of words.”
Even walking would be impossible without mental representations, way too much information and muscle control to handle without.
Experts set apart by quality/quantity of their mental representations.
[bq] “Experts see the forest when everyone else just sees trees.”
Experts see data not as isolated pieces but can understand larger patterns thanks to mental representations and can quickly think thought a large number of possible scenarios.
Superior organization of information comes up over and over when studying expert performance.
They have much more highly developed “if… then” structures.
Having good mental representations allows for advanced visualization and planning.
Also the case for writers. Novices use “knowledge telling”, simple writing what comes to mind. Experts visualize the entire piece before starting to write, “knowledge transforming”. Can use direct feedback (reader’s response or comprehension) to refine representation.
Also key for musical practice. Better players have clear representations that allow them to notice even minute mistakes they make (feedback) and thus improve their performance. Know what to focus their practice on instead of just random practice.
Expert pianists know ho to perform pieces almost automatically, without conscious thoughts controlling their fingers, but use “expressive landmarks” in a piece to modify their performance based on their mood and the audience reaction.
[bq] “Honing the skill improves mental representations, and mental representation helps hone the skill.”
Leads to a virtuous cycle.
4. The Gold Standard
Some methods of practice are more effective than others, and deliberate practice is the most efficient of all.
One important factor is that we must know what a good performance is and when we improve, i.e. need clear measures for good/bad performance.
Rigorous formal training beats “just figuring it out”.
Violin/piano best for studying expert performance since set of skills techniques highly standardized and decades or centuries old.
One key finding: Type of practice required for improvement usually not considered fun. So motivation becomes crucial.
Time spent on solitary practice single biggest indicator of skill level.
Same proved true for studies on dancers, as well as many other skills.
To reach expert level, generally need experienced teachers who evaluate performance once a week or more often and then assign specific activities for solitary practice.
“Deliberate Practice” requires a well developed discipline with clear/objective performance criteria, as well as teachers who can assign tailored practice activities.
These two things set it apart from just purposeful practice, which is more general.
[bq] It’s practice that “clearly knows where it is going and how to get there.”
Deliberate practice:
Develops skills that others have already mastered and figured out effective training methods
Takes place outside the comfort zone
Requires full attention
Involves feedback and modification of efforts. First teacher’s feedback, later one’s own too
Produces and depends on mental representations
Involves building skills step by step focusing on clear intermediate goals
Actually fairly limited number of disciplines where all this applies in the strictest sense. But even if it doesn’t fully apply in a particular area, can still use the same principles. Even in the absence of qualified teachers or well established techniques (all requirements for “true” deliberate practice), can still be applied.
Can study the best in the field, analyze why they are so good, and then tailor practice to develop those same abilities.
Basically if true deliberate practice is not possible, at least try to come close to it. Start with purposeful practice, study the experts, and develop training techniques to emulate their abilities.
One difficulty may be actually picking “experts”. In some fields that status is built on little more than reputation and myth.
For doctors for example, younger less experienced doctors actually perform better on average due to their more up-to-data knowledge.
Then the key is to figure our why the experts are so good. Difficulty: Often relies on better mental representations which can’t be observed directly.
Simplified if we can get access to their training methods. What does the expert do different from everyone else?
Often cited “10,000 hour rule” (popularized by Malcolm Gladwell) is wrong in several ways:
10k is arbitrary, top pianists at height of competition career often at over 20k hours
Depends on field; very roughly the less established a field is, the less time is needed
Just an average
Not all “practice” is the same
10k hours no guarantee for success, other factors may be involved
Also, performance never maxes out. From the first 10 hours to 100k+, it’s continuous improvement (if done right).
5. Principles of Deliberate Practice on the Job
Typical question: What’s the best way to improve the performance of people already trained and on the job?
First key insight: Improvement is only possible if you abandon business-as-usual practices.
Then need to address three myths:
“Skill is inherent.” It’s not. We can shape our own potential. Mindset matters!
“You get better if you do the same thing over and over again.” No! You stagnate and plateau, or even decrease skill. Have to constantly push beyond comfort zone.
“You’ll improve if you just try hard enough.” No! Only with the right kind of purposeful practice!"
Problem in business: very little time for pure practice. Have to practice while getting work done.
Need to constantly look for opportunities not just to do work, but to use this as opportunities to practice very particular skills. E.g. when giving presentation, focus particularly on e.g. engaging the audience more, or using fewer slides.
Ideally tell colleagues that you’re focusing on that skill so they can give immediate feedback.
Simulators can be effective tool, and already used in some professions (pilots, surgeons, etc.), but could be dramatically improved using deliberate practice, e.g. focusing on training of abilities of top performers, to build best mental representations.
A key emphasis needs to be on doing. There is a big difference between knowledge and skill.
[bq] “Deliberate practice focuses solely on performance and how to improve it.”
When training people in the business world often see focus on knowledge at the expense of skill.
Doctors often attend conferences and workshops to keep up to date but they are generally theoretical and study after study shows that doctors with more experience actually perform worse than younger doctors. These activities only give the illusion of learning.
Assumption that once knowledge is there a skill can be acquired quickly is flawed. Need to change our education systems to take this into account.
One important skill in many disciplines is “adaptive thinking”, what to do when unexpected situations come up and we have to deviate from our original plan.
Again, mental representations are key to quickly think through and evaluate alternatives.
6. Principles of Deliberate Practice in Everyday Life
The best thing you can do is find an experienced teacher and get personalized 1 on 1 lessons. This may be expensive, but ultimately much more effective than regular lessons (or none at all).
When choosing a teacher based on reviews, skip how fun they lessons are and focus instead on clear reports of progress.
Need to ask about practice exercise. Most effort will still be by yourself, so key is to get the right exercises from teacher.
Once improvement slows, don’t be afraid to move on to the next instructor.
Engagement is another huge benefit of one to one lessons.
Need to engage, to consciously develop and refine skills, and not just let practice pass over us.
Runners or swimmers (or any kind of endurance athletes) often practice while daydreaming, but can take their training to the next level by focusing on skill refinement. Focus on technique and listening to the body, building better representations of optimal motion.
Shorter sessions with clear goals are best initially, especially because true focus is tiring. Better train at 100% for a short time than 70% for long time.
Huge waste of time: Doing same thing over and over again without step-by-step plan for improvement.
Without a teacher, must come up with our own ways to get feedback and come up with exercises.
Luckily the internet is a great source of techniques/exercises for may skills, as long as we are able to find the right ones.
Without a teacher we can use the “three Fs”: Focus, Feedback, Fix it!
In many skills, trying to reproduce the work of masters is good practice. There is direct feedback since you can compare and see what you missed, and it leads to good mental representations.
One major reason people never get to top levels is that they hit plateaus, get frustrated, and then stop training, thinking that’s as good as they can get.
The best way to overcome plateaus is to switch things up, try new training methods and give your brain new challenges.
Also can try to push just a bit harder than usual to see exactly what the sticking points are that cause you trouble and focus specifically on them. Under pressure, weaknesses become more obvious.
Motivation is key. Getting started is easy, it’s exciting. Keeping up motivation in exhausting and boring practice is a different matter. Purposeful practice is hard work!
First insight: willpower is not some innate genetic trait some people have and other’s don’t. Motivation is different from willpower. Want to maximize reasons to keep going and minimize reasons to quit.
Top violinists often set aside first thing in the morning for practice, with fewest things to distract them. Want to minimize anything that could interfere with training.
Make sure to get enough sleep and be healthy. Much easier to stay focused and motivated.
Motivation should always come from a desire to be better. Skill itself can become motivation. Take pride in it! Time spent on training feels like investment, not waste of time.
Also need a belief that you can succeed.
Social motivation can be extremely powerful. Ideal to surround yourself with people who both encourage and challenge you.
Joining a club or organization can be really useful.
Breaking things down into small short term goals helps keep up a sense of improvement.
Tracking things not only shows you what to improve, but also serves as motivation.
7. The Road to Extraordinary
Road towards true expert level often starts in childhood and lasts for at least a decade till expert level, and even then improvement never stops.
Desire to play (and curiosity) serves as a child’s initial motivation. In many experts, found that competition with an older sibling was a great motivator. Can also be a fun way to get “lessons” from someone more experienced.
Once the pure play phase is over and some clear interest is there, lessons with a coach/teacher usually come next. Initially a good motivator is more important than a good teacher.
Ultimately motivation must come from within child or it won’t last.
In early- to mid-teens many experts make major commitments to their chosen field.
Starting in childhood is a huge advantage, but in few disciplines there are true age limits for when it is too late to become an expert.
Some sports need ranges of motion that can only be achieved in childhood, before skeletal structure is fully set.
While adult brains are less adaptable than children’s, they are still more than capable of learning and changing.
Even something like perfect pitch, which was thought to either be developed as a child or not at all, has been shown to be achievable by adults, given the right (and lots of) practice.
The fourth and final stage of expertise is the “pathfinder”, those whose creative contributions change an entire filed and update what new thought human limitations would be.
This level is very little studied, but everything points at these achievements just being the next step of a step by step process of refining mental representations. They just worked a bit harder and got one step further.
Ultimately the entire field catches up and advances to the pathfinders. Knowing something is possible drives others to do it too and figure it out.
8. But What About Natural Talent?
Deep seated belief that natural talent plays a huge role in experts’ development.
People like to believe in natural born prodigies, but on closer investigation all of them turn out to be the result of hard and deliberate practice.
Mozart a typical example. Actually his father made him spend tons of time on deliberate practice before he went touring Europe, and nowadays many kids the same age can match Mozart back then.
Even in savants, one of the most extreme case of “expertise”, practice is the source of their talent. They can get so focused and obsessed with a particular thing that their entire world revolves around this, leading to a tremendous amount of practice.
Opposite is true as well. There is no evidence that there are healthy, “normal” people who can’t learn a skill, as much as those people like to believe they have no natural talent for say math or singing. All that is required is deliberate practice.
Interesting study: Higher IQ “disadvantage” for elite chess players. Slightly lower IQ players practice more, leading to better chess skills.
“Intelligence” usually not the important factor for skill, but the quality and quantity of mental representations.
Double edged sword: In the beginning of learning skills IQ can help make faster progress and demotivate others who don’t make that kind of progress. But those who do stick with it despite slower progress often develop better practice routines and over he long term catch up and eventually surpass others.
So initially “innate talent” (IQ) may help, but over the long run only deciding factor is hard and deliberate practice. Things like better visuospatial ability may help initially, but as you get better the skill you need is so specialized to your domain that such “general skills” make little difference.
Might think that there are maybe at least some minimum “talent” requirements, but outside e.g. sports where a minimum height is needed, seem to have very little limitations for otherwise healthy adults.
Certainly at the top of any field “innate talent” plays no role whatsoever.
Where genetics might play a role (although research on this still inconclusive) is in how much motivation people have for certain skills, and how much they enjoy them, leading to more practice. So it’s not “a talent for skill X” but “a talent to practice skill X”. [My words, not direct quotes.]
Attention and temperament might be genetic and play a big role.
Huge danger of believing in innate talent: Self-fulfilling prophecy! People just assume they suck at X. Or that they are gifted and don’t need much practice, but then completely stall (or get more attention from parents and teachers and actually succeed).
As noted, IQ can have effect on very beginning of skill acquisition, and if practitioners are separated at a too early stage, with better ones getting extra attention and worse ones encouraged to look for another discipline to practice, this leads to big damage, usually unintentional.
9. Where Do We Go From Here?
Some early experiments by Wieman et.al. to apply the ideas of deliberate practice to university physics teaching have lead to the biggest improvement of comprehension achieved by any single educational intervention.
Most clear applicability to musicians, athletes, and other expert performers.
First step: Identify weaknesses and design practice to address them.
Also further study of mental representations, exactly what they are in different top performers/disciplines and how they can be effectively developed should prove very interesting.
Deliberate practice focuses on skills vs. knowledge. However, we see that in the process of learning a skill a lot of knowledge is accumulated as well. More importantly, it gets stored as connected patterns, not separate pieces. So using this knowledge and connecting it becomes much easier.
In education: Should focus on what a student should be a able to do after lesson, not on what they should know.
Also crucial: Expert performers seen to get a huge amount of joy out of their skill, something many people never experience. All of us should aspire to this!