Peak

Peak accumulates everything the pioneer researcher on deliberate practice has learned about expert performance through decades of exploration and analysis of what separates those, who are average, from those, who are world-class at what they do.

Way back in the 1970s, Anders Ericsson did a study with one of his undergraduate students, named Steve. The goal was to see if Steve could significantly improve his ability to remember a sequence of numbers. When they began working together, Steve could remember the average length most people have no trouble with – seven digits in a row. Steve hadn’t had any memory training before and he wasn’t particularly good with numbers either.

At the end of the study, several months later, Steve could remember number sequences up to 82 digits long.

What happened in between? Four things, specifically, which shaped Steve’s practice environment:

He had a clear, specific goal: memorize more numbers. Steve was focused during practice. A researcher recited the numbers to him in one-second intervals. There were no distractions. Ericsson constantly pushed him to achieve more. When he pulled off 32 numbers, they’d start again with 32 the next session, then shoot for 33. Lastly, Steve received feedback after every attempt, telling him exactly how he had done.

These four things combined create a training environment Ericsson calls purposeful practice. However, purposeful practice is just a stepping stone. For the real deal, two more things must happen.

Going from an average to a world-class performer is like climbing a ladder with an infinite number of rungs. The difference between good and great is in how fast you can get to the next rung, including how many you can skip altogether.

This happens when your practice turns from purposeful to deliberate, for which two elements must come together:

Your practice must take place in a field that’s well-established. The longer it’s been around and the more seasoned experts you can potentially access, the better. If there’s a clear gap in performance between beginners and pros, that’s a good sign. Your practice must be guided by a trainer, coach or mentor, who can instruct you in the activities necessary to improve.

Take music, for example. It’s been around forever and hundreds of training techniques for all kinds of instruments have been refined and crafted until today. By having a violin teacher, who shows you how to play scales the best way, you skip a lot of steps and frustrating attempts.

Leveraging the guidance of someone with access to a big share of the resources and strategies in your field takes your practice from purposeful to informed – and that’s what makes it deliberate.