The Making of an Expert

1
The Making of an Expert

• Based on the article The Making of an Expert
• Based on the article by K Anders Ericsson,
  Michael J Prietula Edward T Cokely
• Harvard Business Review, July-August 2007

2
Are experts born or made?

• Factors contributing to expertise
• Devoted teachers
• Support from families
• Amount of practice
• Quality of practice

3
Development of Expertise

• It is more perspiration, less natural ability!
• Experts are made, not born
• They struggle
• They make many sacrifices
• They undergo ongoing self assessment

4
What is expertise?

• Individual accounts of expertise are often
  unreliable
• Many people are wrongly believed to possess
  expertise
• Expertise delivers consistently superior
  performance w.r.t. peers
• Expertise leads to concrete results
• Expertise is replicable and measurable

5
Practicing deliberately

• Not all practice makes perfect
• Deliberate practice is different
• Involves a lot of thought
• Implies focusing on things we dont do well
• Improving the skills we already have
• Extending the reach and range of our skills
• Quality of practice not time holds the key

6
Getting the most out of practice

• It is only human nature to want to practice what
  you can already do well, since it is a hell of a
  lot less work and a hell of a lot more fun.
• - Sam Snead, Golfing Champion
• It really doesnt matter how long. If you
  practice with your fingers, no amount is enough.
  If you practice with your head, two hours is
  plenty.
• - Nathan Milstein, Famous violinist

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It takes time

• It takes 10 years or 10,000 hours to become a
  true expert.
• Starting early can be crucial.

8
Find Coaches Mentors

• In case of many experts, success was dependent on
  the quality of their practicing. Often it
  involved constant supervision either by the
  teacher or by an assistant to the teacher.
• Different coaches/mentors are needed at different
  points of time.
• Initially local teachers who give time and praise
• Later more advanced teachers
• Finally people who are internationally
  renowned.
• Expert coaches help accelerate the learning
  process
• Constructive, painful feedback, facilitates
  learning
• Self coaching based on experience, documented
  information is also important at a later stage.

9
Additional reading

• Deep Smarts
• By
• Dorothy Leonard