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Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise by [Anders Ericsson, Robert Pool]

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Anders Ericsson

Robert Pool

Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise Kindle Edition

by Anders Ericsson (Author), Robert Pool (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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“This book is a breakthrough, a lyrical, powerful, science-based narrative that actually shows us how to get better (much better) at the things we care about.”—Seth Godin, author of Linchpin

“Anyone who wants to get better at anything should read [Peak]. Rest assured that the book is not mere theory. Ericsson’s research focuses on the real world, and he explains in detail, with examples, how all of us can apply the principles of great performance in our work or in any other part of our lives.”—Fortune

Anders Ericsson has made a career studying chess champions, violin virtuosos, star athletes, and memory mavens. Peak distills three decades of myth-shattering research into a powerful learning strategy that is fundamentally different from the way people traditionally think about acquiring new abilities. Whether you want to stand out at work, improve your athletic or musical performance, or help your child achieve academic goals, Ericsson’s revolutionary methods will show you how to improve at almost any skill that matters to you.

“The science of excellence can be divided into two eras: before Ericsson and after Ericsson. His groundbreaking work, captured in this brilliantly useful book, provides us with a blueprint for achieving the most important and life-changing work possible: to become a little bit better each day.”—Dan Coyle, author of The Talent Code

“Ericsson’s research has revolutionized how we think about human achievement. If everyone would take the lessons of this book to heart, it could truly change the world.”—Joshua Foer, author of Moonwalking with Einstein

Print length

339 pages
Language

English
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HarperOne
Publication date

April 5, 2016
File size

4664 KB
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“This book is a breakthrough, a lyrical, powerful, science-based narrative that actually shows us how to get better (much better) at the things we care about.” —Seth Godin, author of Linchpin

“Most ‘important’ books aren’t much fun to read. Most fun books aren’t very important. But with Peak, Anders Ericsson (with great work from Robert Pool) has hit the daily double. After all, who among us doesn’t want to learn how to get better at life? A remarkable distillation of a remarkable lifetime of work.” —Stephen J. Dubner, coauthor of Freakonomics and Superfreakonomics

“Ericsson’s research has revolutionized how we think about human achievement. He has found that what separates the best of us from the rest is not innate talent but simply the right kind of training and practice. If everyone would take the lessons of this book to heart, it could truly change the world.” —Joshua Foer, author of Moonwalking with Einstein

“The science of excellence can be divided into two eras: before Ericsson and after Ericsson. His groundbreaking work, captured in this brilliantly useful book, provides us with a blueprint for achieving the most important and life-changing work possible: to become a little bit better each day.” —Dan Coyle, author of The Talent Code

“Wonderful. I can’t think of a better book for a popular audience written on any topic in psychology.” —Daniel Willigham, professor of psychology at the University of Virginia and author of Why Don’t Students Like School?

“[Peak] offers an optimistic anti-determinism that ought to influence how people educate children, manage employees, and spend their time. The good news is that to excel one need only look within.” – The Economist

“All good leaders want to get better, and anyone who wants to get better at anything should read [Peak]. Rest assured that the book is not mere theory. Ericsson’s research focuses on the real world, and he explains in detail, with examples, how all of us can apply the principles of great performance in our work or in any other part of our lives.” – Fortune

“This is an empowering, encouraging work that will challenge readers to reach for excellence.” —Publishers Weekly

“[Ericsson] makes a strong case that success in today’s world requires a focus on practical performance, not just the accumulation of information. Especially informative for parents and educators in preparing children for the challenges ahead.” —Kirkus Reviews
--This text refers to the hardcover edition.

From the Inside Flap

From the world’s reigning expert on expertise comes a powerful new approach to mastering almost any skill.
Anders Ericsson has made a career studying chess champions, violin virtuosos, star athletes, and memory mavens. Peak distills three decades of myth-shattering research into a powerful learning strategy that is fundamentally different from the way people traditionally think about acquiring new abilities.

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 virtually all of us have the seeds of excellence within us—it’s just a question of nurturing them properly. Peak offers invaluable, often counterintuitive advice on setting goals, getting feedback, identifying patterns, and motivating yourself. Whether you want to stand out at work, improve your athletic performance, or help your child achieve academic goals, Ericsson’s revolutionary methods will show you how to improve almost any skill that matters to you.

Peak offers more than just practical guidance, though. It demystifies the feats of many outstanding performers, from musical virtuosos to science prodigies to brain surgeons to entrepreneurs to professional athletes. It also offers compelling evidence that our schools are taking the wrong approach to education. And it shows us a convincing new view of the enormous potential we all possess.
--This text refers to the hardcover edition.

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B011H56MKS
Publisher ‏ : ‎ HarperOne; 1st edition (April 5, 2016)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 5, 2016
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 4664 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 339 pages
Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 0544456238
Lending ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #25,845 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
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Customer Reviews:
1,418 ratings

About the authors

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Anders Ericsson
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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.
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Robert Pool
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ROBERT POOL, Ph.D. -- a world-renowned author, consultant, and speaker whose areas of expertise include deliberate practice, deliberate practice training and education, and multiple areas of science, technology, and medicine -- combined his history, physics, and mathematics degrees with his love of writing to successfully transition from researcher and mathematics professor to an internationally published author and successful consultant and speaker. He has taught science writing at Johns Hopkins University and has worked as a writer and editor at the world's two most prestigious science publications -- Science and Nature -- and hundreds of his works have been published in the top publications in a variety of fields, publications that include Discover, New Scientist, Science, Nature, Technology Review, Forbes ASAP, Think Research, The Washington Post, FSU Research in Review, MIT Technology Review, and so on.
Dr. Pool co-authored his latest general audience book -- Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016) -- with Anders Ericsson, Ph.D., the world's reigning authority on expertise. Since Peak was released less than two years ago more than two dozen countries have purchased publishing rights, Peak has been translated into dozens of languages, and Dr. Pool has done numerous podcasts and interviews and been hired as a deliberate practice consultant and speaker by companies and groups around the world. His passion for deliberate practice and belief that it can change and better life as we know it has lead to his creation of various Peak Deliberate Practice social media (facebook, twitter, tumblr, pinterest, etc.) as well as a web site -- peakdeliberatepractice.com -- which he is designing to become an interactive community and forum for everyone interested in creating potential through deliberate practice.
Dr. Pool transitioned from academia and working as a professor to entering the field of writing in the newspaper industry, where his work as a business writer and science columnist earned him a number of awards. His work was so impressive, in fact, that it earned him international positions at the two most prestigious science magazines in the world. First he worked at Science, where he served as a research news writer and contributing correspondent. Then he served as news editor at Nature -- during which time he also served as a science writing instructor at Johns Hopkins University -- before becoming a freelance author.
For many years Dr. Pool has provided writing and consulting services for such prestigious groups as the National Academies -- comprising the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), and the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) -- which serve (collectively) as the scientific national academy for the United States. He has written hundreds of important books and reports for the academies -- many of them published by the National Academies Press -- covering such topics as homeland security, intelligence and counterintelligence, vaccine safety, transportation safety, pollinator collapse, the obesity epidemic, forensics in the courtroom, literacy and education, etc. These works have made a profound impact on and substantial contribution to the world. (National Academies books and reports influence policy decisions and laws; are instrumental in enabling new research programs; provide independent program reviews; etc.) In addition to books and reports, Dr. Pool has participated in and served as rapporteur/author for numerous national and international think tank and problem-solving workshops and committees and written extensive workshop summary booklets for the Institute of Medicine, the Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education at the National Academies, the National Research Council Committee on Long-Run Macro-Economic Effects of the Aging U.S. Population, the National Research Council Committee on Understanding International Health Differences in High-Income Countries, the National Research Council Committee on Population/Panel on Understanding Divergent Trends in Longevity in High-Income Countries, the National Academy of Engineering Committee on K-12 Engineering Education, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory for “Technical Revision of Congressional Budget Narrative” for nuclear physics section of the Department of Energy, the Institute of Medicine Committee on the Evaluation of NIOSH's Anthropometric Survey, the National Academy of Engineering Committee on Assessing Technological Literacy, and the National Academy of Engineering Committee for Making the Case for Technological Literacy, among many others. Dr. Pool also provides writing and consulting services for various private sector clients as well as such groups as the Military Suicide Research Consortium, funded by the Department of Defense.
In addition to Peak, Dr. Pool has written many other successful books -- four for a general audience -- including Eve's Rib: Searching for the Biological Roots of Sex Differences (Crown, 1994) -- still relevant to discussions of gender and gender issues two decades after its first release, often quoted/referenced in current publications, and referred to as an important contribution and invaluable resource in our understanding of gender and sex differences in the human brain -- and Beyond Engineering: How Society Shapes Technology (Oxford University Press, 1997) -- which has remained on university required reading lists for more than two decades.
Although Dr. Pool specializes in deliberate practice, deliberate practice training and education, and various areas of science, technology, and medicine, his ability to write in all genres and all fields is proven by the breadth of his work. For example, Dr. Pool has written sections for junior high and high school texts, ghostwritten various articles and books across a wide variety of fields, served as a writing and content consultant for industry newsletters, and written for annual reports, corporate communications, and public relations campaigns. On a fun note, he has even written and published in the field of creative writing, including short stories, poems, and songs.
The following is an abbreviated list -- many clients and projects cannot be included due to trade secrets and confidentiality agreements and most recent works and Peak Deliberate Practice work/engagements have yet to be added -- that includes some of Dr. Pool's consulting jobs and publications, including works for the National Academies:
EDUCATION & ACADEMIA:
--Graduated magna cum laude from Rice University with a B.A. in physics, mathematics, and history
--As graduate student spent year at Princeton with dissertation advisor
--Earned Ph.D. in mathematics from Rice University
--Instructor at Rice University
--Assistant professor at Texas A&M University
DOCTORATE THESIS PUBLICATION:
"Some applications of complex geometry to mathematical physics" -- included in Memoirs of the American Mathematical Society and referenced in dozens of major mathematical and scientific papers and publications.
GENERAL AUDIENCE BOOKS:
(1) Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, New York, 2016 (with Anders Ericsson).
(2) Fat: Fighting the Obesity Epidemic, Oxford University Press, New York, 2001.
(3) Beyond Engineering: How Society Shapes Technology, Oxford University Press, New York, 1997. Paperbound version released in 1999.
(4) Eve's Rib: Searching for the Biological Roots of Sex Differences, Crown Publishing, New York, 1994.
MAGAZINE, NEWSPAPER, AND INTERNET ARTICLES:
Well over 200 articles in Discover, New Scientist, Science, Nature, Technology Review, Forbes ASAP, Think Research, The Washington Post, FSU Research in Review, MIT Technology Review, and other publications as well as hundreds more in newspaper and internet articles.
BOOKS/BOOKLETS SUMMARIZING NATIONAL ACADEMIES-SPONSORED WORKSHOPS:
(1) The Interplay Between Environmental Exposures and Obesity, The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C., 2016.
(2) Principles and Obstacles for Sharing Data from Environmental Health Research, The National Academies Press, 2016.
(3) Identifying and Reducing Environmental Health Risks of Chemicals in Our Society, The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C., 2014.
(4) Bringing Public Health into Urban Revitalization, The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C., 2014.
(5) Nexus of Biofuels Energy, Climate Change, and Health, The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C., 2014.
(6) Proposed Revisions to the Common Rule: Perspectives of Social and Behavioral Scientists, The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C., 2013.
(7) New Directions in Assessing Performance of Individuals and Groups, The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C., 2013.
(8) Sociocultural Data to Accomplish Department of Defense Missions: Toward a Unified Framework, The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C., 2011.
(9) Field Evaluation in the Intelligence and Counterintelligence Context, The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C., 2011.
(10) Emerging Safety Science: The Biology of Adverse Events, The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C., 2008.
(11) Assessing the Medical Risks of Oocyte Donation for Stem Cell Research, The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C., 2007.
(12) Nutrigenomics and Beyond: Informing the Future, National Academies Press, Washington, D.C., 2007.
(13) Contributions of Land Remote Sensing for Decisions About Food Security and Human Health, The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C., 2007.
(14) Environmental Contamination, Biotechnology, and the Law: The Impact of Emerging Genomic Information, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 2001.
(15) Ecological Monitoring of Genetically Engineered Crops, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 2001.
(16) Bioinformatics: Converting Data to Knowledge, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 2000.
(17) Finding The Path: Issues of Access to Research Resources, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 1999.
(18) Privacy Issues in Biomedical and Clinical Research, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 1998.
(19) Intellectual Property Rights and Plant Biotechnology, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 1997.
(20) The Dynamic Brain, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 1994.
NATIONAL ACADEMIES-SPONSORED REPORTS (WRITING/EDITING/CONSULTANT):
(1) Making Value for America: Embracing the Future of Manufacturing, Technology, and Work, The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C., 2015.
(2) Messaging for Engineering: From Research to Action, The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C., 2013.
(3) U.S. Health in International Perspective: Shorter Lives, Poorer Health, The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C., 2013.
(4) Intelligence Analysis for Tomorrow: Advances from the Behavioral and Social Sciences, The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C., 2011.
(5) Explaining Divergent Levels of Longevity in High-Income Countries, The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C., 2011.
(6) International Differences in Mortality at Older Ages: Dimensions and Sources, The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C., 2011.
(7) Conducting Biosocial Surveys: Collecting, Storing, Accessing, and Protecting Biospecimens and Biodata. Committee on National Statistics, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 2010.
(8) Tech Tally: Approaches to Assessing Technological Literacy, The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C., 2006.
(9) Technically Speaking: Why All Americans Need to Know More about Technology, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 2002.
(10) Exploring Horizons for Domestic Animal Genomics (Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources, 2002).
(11) Bioinformatics: Converting Data to Knowledge (Commission on Life Sciences, 2000).
ENCYCLOPEDIA ENTRY:
“The Internet and World Wide Web,” for the Oxford Companion to United States History (Oxford University Press, 2000).
QUOTE:
Quote from Robert Pool regarding nature versus nurture in explaining differences in human behavior in The Columbia World of Quotations (1996) on Bartleby.com
GRANTS:
(1) Research and writing grant for book on the unknown, Sloan Foundation, $125,000, March 2001.
(2) Making the Case for Technological Literacy, National Science Foundation, $59,800, September 2000.
(3) "The Importance of Technological Literacy for Policy Making," National Science Foundation, $59,880.00, September 2000.
(4) Research and writing grant for book on obesity, Sloan Foundation, $126,000, December 1996.
(5) Research and writing grant for book on nuclear power, Sloan Foundation, $125,000, March 1992.
CONSULTING, ETC.:
(1) Consultant/writer/editor for the Military Suicide Research Consortium (funded by the Department of Defense), December 2010 – present.
(2) Consultant/copy editor for the Institute of Medicine, January 2007 – present.
(3) Consultant/copy editor for the Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education at the National Academies, March 2011 – February 2014.
(4) Consultant/writer/editor for the National Research Council Committee on Long-Run Macro-Economic Effects of the Aging U.S. Population, December 2010 – March 2012.
(5) Consultant/writer/editor for the National Research Council Committee on Understanding International Health Differences in High-Income Countries, March 2011 – February 2012.
(6) Consultant/writer/editor for the National Research Council Committee on Population/Panel on Understanding Divergent Trends in Longevity in High-Income Countries, July 2009 – August 2010.
(7) Consultant/writer/editor for the National Academy of Engineering Committee on K-12 Engineering Education, February 2008 – January 2009.
(8) Consultant/writer for Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory for “Technical Revision of Congressional Budget Narrative” for nuclear physics section of Department of Energy budget request, July – October 2008.
(9) Consultant/writer/editor for Institute of Medicine Committee on the Evaluation of NIOSH's Anthropometric Survey, June – December 2006.
(10) Consultant/writer/editor for the National Academy of Engineering Committee on Assessing Technological Literacy, September 2004-January 2005.
(11) Consultant/writer/editor for National Academy of Engineering Committee for Making the Case for Technological Literacy, April 2000 - July 2002.
(12) Consultant/writer/editor for Standards for Technological Literacy, developed by the International Technology Education Association with support from the National Science Foundation and NASA, October 1998-January 2000.
(13) Consultant on technological innovation for CENTRA Technology, Inc. (under contract from the Central Intelligence Agency), December 1999.
(14) Consulting editor on Shots in the Dark: The Wayward Search for an AIDS Vaccine by Jon Cohen, 1998-1999.
(15) Writing and content consultant for three newsletters, Food Chemical News, Food Labeling & Nutrition News, and Pesticide & Toxic Chemical News, 1996.
DELIBERATE PRACTICE CONSULTANT, WRITING, & EDITING:
Numerous consultant/writing/editing engagements and contracts *(many more details to follow)*, including:
(1) Peaksware (peaksware.com)
(2) Rehearsal (rehearsal.com)
(3) Consultant/writer for Craemer Consulting (Workplace Communication, Organization Development & Leadership Coaching), 2016
PODCASTS/INTERVIEWS/SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS:
Numerous podcasts, interviews, and speaking engagements *(many more details to follow)*, including:
(1) Windcastle Venture Consulting, Startup Geometry Podcast: August 30, 2016: http://bottlerocketscience.blogspot.com/2016/08/robert-pool-is-mathematician-science.html
(2) Speed Secrets Podcast (Calls "Peak" "one of the three most important books ever written.") -- July 27, 2017: https://podtail.com/podcast/speed-secrets-podcast/032-robert-pool-how-to-practice-to-drive-faster/
(3) The Remarkable Leadership Podcast: June 14, 2017: http://remarkablepodcast.com/power-deliberate-practice-robert-pool-53/
(4) Education Week Teacher--April 13, 2016: http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/classroom_qa_with_larry_ferlazzo/2016/04/peak_an_interview_with_anders_ericsson_robert_pool.html
MORE INFO & SITES TO VISIT/FOLLOW:
(The following sites were all created and are managed by Robert Pool, Ph.D. and his wife/collaborator and business partner/Marketing Director, Deanne Laura Pool)
Follow Our "Robert Pool, Ph.D." Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/RobertPoolPhD/
Follow Our "Peak Deliberate Practice" Facebook Page (primarily focusing on deliberate practice in general -- from the only deliberate practice expert who has spent two decades learning from and collaborating with K. Anders Ericsson, the scientist who discovered and coined the phrase deliberate practice -- with some discussion of Peak): www.facebook.com/PeakDeliberatePractice
Join Our "Peak Deliberate Practice" Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/PeakDeliberatePractice/
Follow Our "Peak the Book" Facebook Page (primarily focusing on "Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise") : www.facebook.com/deliberatepractice
Visit & Join Our Regularly-Updated Website: www.peakdeliberatepractice.com. This web site -- published so far in beta form, without any focus yet on design aspects, so that everything can be tweaked and recommendations considered -- is a growing major website devoted to all aspects of deliberate practice, with detailed advice about ways to improve in various areas, reporting on advances in the field, interviews with expert performers, personal stories of individuals who have successfully applied deliberate practice in their own lives, videos, and more.
Visit Our "Peak" Website: www.peakthebook.com
See more on the author's page

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The Wild Card in Your Deck...and You Decide Whether or Not to Use It

Reviewed in the United States on September 5, 2017

Verified Purchase

Before reading this book, I had read several others books that were derived from or at least influenced by Ericsson's research. They are listed at the end of this review. Perhaps just as importantly, I have also read biographies of great achievers who've reached the pinnacle of their areas of endeavor. From that, I hope to formulate a unique perspective about this book. These are also listed at the end of this review.

I mention this because it enables me to speak from my own experience, findings from a wide cross-section of researchers, and, most importantly (I hope), the biographies of how people achieved greatness.

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My Own Story
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Around ten years ago was when I first read Ericsson's academic paper on "The Role of Deliberate Practice in the Acquisition of Expert Performance." A colleague of mine at the time told me that he used its principles to train his son in baseball and that it was instrumental getting his son a baseball scholarship.

I didn't think about it much at that time.

Seven years later, I decided to teach myself to play piano as a side hobby. Initially, I was a textbook case of "doing everything wrong" in that I would merely learn by repeating the same phrases over and over again until I reached a point of acceptable mediocrity. What that meant is that I could play well in enough amuse myself, but was nowhere near good enough play in public.

Frustrated, I remembered what I had learned years ago from Ericsson's published research. From the books mentioned below, I learned about deliberate practice techniques. At the risk of oversimplification, I learned that, in my case super-slow, but perfect execution, is better than normal speed with mistakes. Indeed, that is how they teach even the most gifted prodigies at Julliard.

I now play pretty well.

That said, people are not naturally inclined to do that. Deliberate practice does not feel good. It is not intuitive. It feels awkward and is the antithesis of what attracted me to the piano, i.e. FUN. I do not think I would be practicing in this manner if it had not been for Ericcson's research that has now been widely disseminated. Plus, its principles have bled over into my performance in my business and other areas of my life.

So I am a huge proponent of Ericsson's research.

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But....
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I think Ericsson is far from being able to disprove that natural talent derived from the gene pool is not a significant factor in the success in any area of endeavor.

For one thing, the small sample size of individuals whose brilliance he explains being purely the result of deliberate practice is small. There's the Polgar Sisters, Mozart, Paganini and a few others. Plus, the case he makes about Mozart is far from being proof.

There are far too many well-documented instances where we hear very young children of apparently normal parents, whose genius that cannot be explained, other than by genetic lottery.

When I read the biographies of folks like Warren Buffett, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Steve Jobs, it's commonplace that I see some edge by way of their parents and/or education, or gene pool that has nothing to do with deliberate practice.

Elon Musk had intelligent, somewhat offbeat parents and was beat up a few times in school. That can be said of many kids, however. None of this remotely explains the Elon Musk we see today.

Andre Agassi's father played a strong role in this success as a tennis pro. I would say he's a beneficiary principles taught in Ericsson's book. However, it's hard to say it's the only factor.

Bruce Springsteen had no role model or guidance. He liked Elvis and wanted to be like him. His natural talent got him there.

There was nothing remarkable about Jeff Bezo's childhood. He did not have any edge other than that which was innate. But his business smarts was evident on Wall Street before he founded Amazon.

Before Arnold Schwarzenegger became a movie star, was already successful in real estate. It was due to his prowess in math and the ability to make projections in his head about how much houses would be worth after they were fixed up. Nothing in his childhood foreshadowed his success.

Einstein? Well, that is another case in which he had no special training or advantage when he was as a child.

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4.5 Stars, if that was possible
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What Ericsson gets right is far more important than what is subject to debate.

The bottom line is this, in the absence a nurturing environment or generous genetic endowment, deliberate practice is one thing that can go a long way to leveling the playing field.

Here are books I've read that prior to Ericsson's book that are related to his findings on deliberate practice:

The Talent Code: Unlocking the Secret of Skill in Sports, Art, Music, Math, and Just About Anything , The Little Book of Talent: 52 Tips for Improving Your Skills , The Practicing Mind: Developing Focus and Discipline in Your Life , Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance , Peak Performance: Elevate Your Game, Avoid Burnout, and Thrive with the New Science of Success , The Practice of Practice: Get Better Faster and others.

Here are some bios I've read which lead to me believe that there are variables outside of deliberate practice contribute outcomes:

Open: An Autobiography about Andre Agassi , Born to Run about Bruce Springsteen , Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story , Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future , Einstein: His Life and Universe , The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon and many others.

146 people found this helpful

Helpful

Deliberate practice can change your life!

Reviewed in the United States on July 5, 2019

Verified Purchase

This is a straight-to-the-point book, describing how deliberate practice can make you successful in any area of your life. This book is easy to read, but it is also "meaty", with many actionable ideas. I especially like that this book is very research-based (the authors give you the science behind the ideas they present). The only issue with this book, like any self-help book, is actually implementing the strategies in your own life. I highly recommend this book. Please mark if you find my review helpful. Thank you so much!

31 people found this helpful

Helpful

Ashutosh S. Jogalekar

(Deliberate) practice makes perfect?

Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2016

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Anders Ericsson became famous for his work on what he called "deliberate practice", a set of recipes that could help someone gain expertise in an area. In this readable and well-researched book he expands upon this concept and brings several time-tested and scientifically reviewed ideas to bear on the search for perfection in our lives. Ericsson and his co-author Robert Pool are good storytellers and they pepper their ideas with dozens of case studies and examples from diverse fields like music, sports and medicine.

In the first part of the book Ericsson dispels the myth that most "prodigies" or experts achieve what they do by innate talent. I thought he was a bit biased against the truly brilliant individuals like Mozart which humanity has produced, but he makes the good point that even Mozart adopted certain strategies and worked very hard - often helped by his father - to become famous. Similarly Ericsson examines several other extraordinary individuals mainly in the realm of sports, music and recreational arithmetic such as Paginini, Picasso and Bobby Fischer and tells us of their intense and often grueling routine of practice. What he perhaps fails to mention is that even the intense ability to focus or to work repeatedly with improvement has an innate component to it. I would have appreciated his take on recent neuroscience studies investigating factors like concentration and mental stamina.

Once the myth of some kind of an innate, unreachable genius is put to rest, Ericsson explains the difference between 'ordinary' practice and 'deliberate' practice. In this difference lies the seed for the rest of the book. When it comes to deliberate practice, the key words are focus, feedback, specific goals and mental representations. Unlike 'naive' practice which involves doing the same thing again and again and expecting improvement, deliberate practice involves setting specific goals for oneself, breaking down complex tasks into chunks, making mental representations of paths leading to success, getting out of your comfort zone and getting constant feedback.

Much of the book focuses on those key last three factors. Mental representations are patterns or heuristics that allow you to become successful in a task and do it repeatedly with improvement. Ericsson provides examples from calculating prodigies and chess grandmasters to illustrate the utility and power of mental representations. Getting out of your comfort zone may sound obvious but it's equally important; helped in his narrative by neuroscience studies which illustrate how the brain strengthens neural connections in certain areas when you push yourself, Ericsson provides good tips for exerting yourself just a little bit more than you did the previous time when you attempt to get better at a task.

Lastly, he shows us how getting constant feedback on results is of paramount importance in becoming an expert. Ericsson calls this the 'Top Gun' method based on a reference to the elite US Navy pilots who became much better when they got feedback on their combat maneuvers at the Navy's Top Gun flight school. The lack of feedback can explain many seemingly paradoxical results. For instance Ericsson spends several pages describing studies showing that more experienced doctors aren't always necessarily better at diagnosis, mainly because they often work alone, don't change their methods and have no peers to provide feedback; in a nutshell, the work they put in daily contributes to ordinary practice but not deliberate practice. Doctors who made positive changes in all three areas were much better, and so can the rest of us. In fact it is startling to realize how little feedback we get from our daily work. Other studies from the areas of motivational speaking and business management showed similar trends; breaking up jobs into parcels and getting regular feedback on these can make an enormous difference.

As an aside, Ericsson offers a good critique of Malcolm Gladwell's book "Outliers" in which Gladwell made the "ten thousand hour rule" so popular; Ericsson cautions us that Gladwell misunderstood many details of that rule including its limited utility as an average and its inapplicability to some of the examples he cites in his book.

Overall I found the book very readable and interesting, with scores of recognizable and thought-provoking examples thrown in. The only caveat to deliberate practice is one Ericsson himself states in the middle of the book: it is mainly applicable only to "highly developed fields" like sports or music where there have been hundreds of years of published and known case studies and data and widely agreed upon metrics for the field, and where there are several world-class experts to whom one can compare themselves when trying to improve. Ericsson himself states that the principles for deliberate practice don't work as well for professions like "engineer, teacher, consultant, electrician and business manager". I would think that these professional titles apply to millions of people around the planet, so those people will probably benefit a bit less from Ericsson's principles. Nonetheless, in a world constantly competing with itself, Ericsson's book offers some timely and well-researched advice for self-improvement.

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Molten Beaks

A game changer

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 5, 2017

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This is probably the second-best book I have ever read in this genre (the best is, and probably always will be, 'Getting Things Done' by David Allen).

Why did I love it? Because I read a LOT of books of this kind (self-help, psychology, business, etc.) and while lots of others provide good ideas or insights, this book provides a completely new way of looking at the world. That's why it's a game changer for me. From the way I am learning to dance to the way I work at my desk, the principles highlighted in this book are relevant and applicable. They say there are two tests for a good book: 1. Will I remember it in a month? and 2. Does it change the way I think about the world? This book is a resounding yes.

32 people found this helpful

Roy M

Best performance improvement strategies I have read.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 28, 2017

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Excellent book - everyone who seriously want to improve their performance in anything should read this.

2 people found this helpful

Josh Hamit

I've not had much "Deliberate Practice" writing reviews, but I'll do my best...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 7, 2016

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I've not had much "Deliberate Practice" writing reviews, but I'll do my best...

A fascinating read. This book gives a compelling argument against the old adage of "natural talent". In fact, there is no such thing as natural talent. Only deliberate practice leads to outstanding performance. Having read the examples and research in this book, I agree with the authors.

One person found this helpful

Mrs P Lenham

Great book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 16, 2018

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Great book

David Didau

Well worth reading

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 15, 2016

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Having read many of Ericsson's papers I wasn't expect to learn much, but the narrative style and the ways in which he synthesises a career's worth of research sheds new light on practice and expertise.

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