The Virtues of Sustaining Excellence

Episode 147: Anders Ericsson - What Malcolm Gladwell Got Wrong About The 10,000 Hour Rule

ANDERS ERICSSON, PhD, is Conradi Eminent Scholar and Professor of Psychology at Florida State University.  He studies expert performance in domains, such as music, chess, medicine, and sports, and how expert performers attain their superior performance by acquiring complex cognitive mechanisms through extended deliberate practice.  He has edited “Cambridge Handbook of Expertise and Expert Performance” (2006) and “The Development of Professional Expertise” (2009). In the book Outliers Malcolm Gladwell based his “10,000 hour rule” on Ericsson and colleagues’s research on musicians. His latest book is titled, "PEAK, Secrets From The New Science of Expertise."

Have you ever wanted to learn a language or pick up an instrument, only to become too daunted by the task at hand? Expert performance guru Anders Ericsson has made a career studying chess champions, violin virtuosos, star athletes, and memory mavens. Peak condenses three decades of original research to introduce an incredibly powerful approach to learning that is fundamentally different from the way people traditionally think about acquiring a skill.

Ericsson’s findings have been lauded and debated, but never properly explained. So the idea of expertise still intimidates us — we believe we need innate talent to excel, or think excelling seems prohibitively difficult.

 Peak belies both of these notions, proving that almost all of us have the seeds of excellence within us — it’s just a question of nurturing them by reducing expertise to a discrete series of attainable practices. Peak offers invaluable, often counter-intuitive, advice on setting goals, getting feedback, identifying patterns, and motivating yourself.  Whether you want to stand out at work, or help your kid achieve academic goals, Ericsson’s revolutionary methods will show you how to master nearly anything.

Episode 147: Anders Ericsson - What Malcolm Gladwell Got Wrong About The 10,000 Hour Rule

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The Learning Leader Show

“Deliberate or purposeful practice involves practicing alongside a great coach or teacher."

In This Episode, You Will Learn:

• Being really thoughtful and deliberately thinking of ways to get better help you sustain excellence
• Why it's so important to develop daily habits -- Being aware of the tradeoffs -- Using time wisely
• The impact of Nobel Prize winner, Herbert Simon -- Anders worked with him for 3 years
• Impressive listening skills -- How developing your ability to listen will dramatically improve your life
• He has not found any evidence that shows that people are born successful -- It's learned
• What does it take to be successful?
• What exactly Malcolm Gladwell got wrong about the "10,000 Hour" rule
• It's not just engaging in the domain -- There must be purposeful practice with a coach
• Always operate on the boundary of what you can and can't do.
• Why Anders and Malcolm Gladwell do not talk
• Nature vs. Nurture debate - Family culture and interactions -- How they impact your life
• A study of quarterbacks and their family backgrounds
• How do you measure deliberate practice?
• Creating the gap -- Where you are and where you want to be
• Keynote speech - Think, Feel, Act -- We want to cover all three and most importantly change how you act
• The Four Step Process
  • Specific Goal Set
  • Intense Focus
  • Immediate Feedback
  • Frequent Discomfort

“Always operate on the boundary of what you can and can't do."

Continue Learning:

• Read: Peak - The New Secrets of Success
• Read: How To Become an Expert at Anything
• To Follow Me on Twitter: @RyanHawk12

You may also like these episodes:

Episode 078: Kat Cole – From Hooters Waitress To President of Cinnabon

Episode 082: Dan Pink – The Science of Motivation, Legendary Writer & Ted Talk

Episode 086: Seth Godin – How To Become Indispensable & Build Your Tribe

Episode 107: Simon Sinek – Leadership: It Starts With Why

Did you enjoy the podcast?

If you enjoyed hearing Anders Ericsson on the show, please don’t hesitate to send me a note on Twitter or email me.

Episode edited by the great J Scott Donnell

Bio From Amazon.com

ANDERS ERICSSON, PhD, is Conradi Eminent Scholar and Professor of Psychology at Florida State University.  He studies expert performance in domains, such as music, chess, medicine, and sports, and how expert performers attain their superior performance by acquiring complex cognitive mechanisms through extended deliberate practice.  He has edited “Cambridge Handbook of Expertise and Expert Performance” (2006) and “The Development of Professional Expertise” (2009). In the book Outliers Malcolm Gladwell based his “10,000 hour rule” on Ericsson and colleagues’s research on musicians. His latest book is titled, "PEAK, Secrets From The New Science of Expertise."

Have you ever wanted to learn a language or pick up an instrument, only to become too daunted by the task at hand? Expert performance guru Anders Ericsson has made a career studying chess champions, violin virtuosos, star athletes, and memory mavens. Peak condenses three decades of original research to introduce an incredibly powerful approach to learning that is fundamentally different from the way people traditionally think about acquiring a skill.

Ericsson’s findings have been lauded and debated, but never properly explained. So the idea of expertise still intimidates us — we believe we need innate talent to excel, or think excelling seems prohibitively difficult.

 Peak belies both of these notions, proving that almost all of us have the seeds of excellence within us — it’s just a question of nurturing them by reducing expertise to a discrete series of attainable practices. Peak offers invaluable, often counterintuitive, advice on setting goals, getting feedback, identifying patterns, and motivating yourself.  Whether you want to stand out at work, or help your kid achieve academic goals, Ericsson’s revolutionary methods will show you how to master nearly anything.