The Route to Good Performance: Deliberate Practice

What determines good performance? Is it talent? (IQ, personality in intellectual jobs; speed, strength in athletics) Is it hard work? We all know washouts who are super smart or super gifted. We also know plenty of people who work really hard and are only mediocre.

Deliberate Practice So if it’s not talent, and it’s not hard work, what is it? The answer is hard work with deliberate practice. Deliberate practice is hard work done to emphasize the specific skills necessary to succeed.

Hard Work Hard work is useful, but only up to a point. Humans repeating an activity will reach a certain level of competence with enough repetition. But repetition will not create high performance – People work 40 hours a week at tasks without improving. – Athletes practice day after day without improving.

Hard Work Performance w/ Deliberate Practice Without Deliberate Practice Performance Repetition Previously thought ‘Max Performance’

Deliberate Practice This explains why certain schools or academies produce high performers in certain fields over and over again. – Juliard School of Performing Arts – 2 nd City Comedy Troupe – Penn State “Linebacker U” in the 80’s Why? – Because the key to deliberate practice is identifying the behaviors that are to be improved and the techniques for improving them. – This is not an easy task. Those who’ve figured it out tend to produce excellent performers over and over again. – This is why coaches are valued.

Deliberate Practice Does talent matter? – Of course, if an individual with more natural inclination engages in hard work and deliberate practice, they will succeed. Is talent overrated? – Of course. Most people don’t engage in deliberate practice. Most people also don’t work hard. Even fewer both work hard AND engage in deliberate practice.

Tiger Woods Is Tiger Woods the most talented person to ever play golf? Does he look like a great athlete? woods-teen-not-interested-girls Tiger is 6’0” tall – slightly above the national average for a man. He clearly has a naturally slight build.

Tiger Woods Childhood friends describe him as “gawky” and a “bit of klutz”. So how did he become the best golfer ever? – His father was an excellent teacher who spent 25 years training recruits in the Army. – His father took up golf in adulthood and became obsessed with learning everything he could about the game. – His father began training him at 16 months old.

Tiger Woods He practiced different aspects of the game religiously The effect was cumulative He engaged in deliberate practice!