Practice makes perfect - the power of Deliberate Practice
As we get older we seem to forget this advice given to us by our parents. As our lives are made easier with the use of technology and we get busy looking after households, family be that young children or elderly parents our time becomes scarce. Often our roles at work involve meetings, emails, phone calls and the general movement of information with these taking up huge amounts of our time. So when we are faced with a new skill to learn if it seems hard, difficult to master or complex our brain actually works against us and looks for the easier route.
This was looked at in depth by Daniel Kahneman in his research for which he won a Nobel Prize and shared in his book ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’. Essentially our brains use a huge amount of energy to operate our prefrontal cortex (the thinking part of the brain) so it constantly looks for ways to short cut and find an easier way. Have you ever tried to take some time to think through a problem and found yourself going over a piece of the data you already know, or constructing an email you need to send rather than thinking in more depth about the problem at hand?
Our parents were right and maybe it’s time to listen to that advice we received as a child that
‘Practice makes Perfect’
because neuroscience research shows us that we need to lay down new pathways to embed new learning. This can be done by Deliberate Practice a term used by K. Anders Ericsson on his work on performance and the main reason between the difference in Expert Performers and ‘normal’ adults.
Just think of the last 2-3 months where everyone has had to work from home, I’ve heard lots of people say things like ‘we’ve had Microsoft Teams for years, but now, we know how to use it’. I have had to improve my online delivery and you can often now see the difference in Zoom between people who have used online Face to Face meeting software to deliver a service and those who haven’t. The comfortableness with the technology, the connection you seem to get with them and the whole online experience is completely different. However this didn’t come without practice, hours of practicing using the technology to ensure the experience for the audience be that one person or 500 is great. That they get the intended outcomes from the meeting be it intimate like coaching or learning a new skill in an online workshop. Focusing on the outcome for individuals is essential to a great experience.
Deliberate Practice needs two things:
your attention is focused tightly on a specific skill you’re trying to improve or an idea you’re trying to master
You receive feedback so you can correct your approach to keep your attention exactly where it’s most productive
However I believe on the road to perfect we also need to devote time to our Deliberate Practice and not underestimate how long it will take to improve. The general rule is 10,000 hours to become an expert in anything so you can see for many of us in using Zoom this may take us a while but the recent forced use of this and similar software has progressed us all along this pathway.
So what’s happening when we perform deliberate practice in our brains. You may of heard the Neuroscience saying,
‘Neurones that fire together wire together’
Essentially we are forming new pathways to embed the learning so that it becomes second nature. As these pathways become more established a fatty tissue called myelin forms around them, acting as an insulator that allow the cells to fire faster and cleaner.
In his book 'Deep Work', Cal Newport also argues that focus is also key in this process. If we try to learn a new skill like making a connection with other people using Zoom but at the same time we have lots of distractions around us. Usually other work visible on the laptop, maybe email notifications coming through or we’re browsing the internet. We have too many neurones firing and so the process of building a pathway between the neurones required to perfect the skill aren’t clear and therefore the process of insulating the pathway with myelin can’t happen.
So if you are trying to learn a new skill make sure you put in place these key elements to help you get there faster:
Focus on the specific skill you are trying to develop
Make sure you allow enough time to practice the skill
Keep yourself free from distractions in this time
Develop a feedback loop to correct your approach
Ask an expert
Happy practicing!
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