If you are at all like me, this is a both new and surprising piece of information… and supported, naturally by research.
Alfie Kohn, author of Myth of the Spoiled Child, reported the stats I’m going to share on CBS Morning news….And I’m totally unclear on the relationship between his book and the information on “practice NOT making perfect.” Regardless 88 university studies explored the contribution to success FROM practice. It turns out that less than 12% of success comes from deliberate practice…. or repetition of the things you are trying to learn. Even after “taking in” this information I’m still struggling with it even though there is an intuitive way it makes sense, especially when we explore the interaction of things that DO make a difference in success with learning/acquiring a skill.
Excellence, basically, means LOVING what you do or are trying to learn to do. It also obviously involves TALENT. And yet another factor — plain old ENJOYMENT. And finally COLLABORATION. People who are genuinely collaborative see achieving as more than an individual effort. And one more factor likely has to do with how early in childhood an individual begins to explore, develop, learn a skill. This is where my intuition clicks in. I’ve been an athlete all my life — learning all kinds of sports as a kid. Consequently most athletic efforts and acquiring the skill/coordination have felt natural, fun, and relatively easy, and almost always involved teams. That seems to take in much of what the research supports as factors meaning a person might succeed. One disclaimer… I have never been good at golf. But I have to add I also never really liked it. Consequently, as I reflect, I seem to be an example of the research. MAYBE IF I had loved golf I could have become reasonably good at it? Well, it’s a thought.
What does all this mean? There’s an interaction with natural talent/ability and love of the activity, and enjoyment of collaboration…..and oh, yes, practice. AND the earlier in life you start to engage in the activity, the better you are likely to be.
Loving what you do, and the huge role that plays in success reminds me of how many parents I encounter who force their kids to take some kind of lesson, play some kind of sport, participate in some activity that will “teach them something” that the kid HATES. Small wonder there is resistance and low levels of success!
Bottom line: we each need to explore and find the things we love and find we have a talent for…and go from there. Practice, indeed. And the reality is when we love something, and feel that more natural connection with our talent, we will PRACTICE because we enjoy doing it, developing the skill. So we need most often to help one another “discover” our talents, interests, and best direction….and each of us is different. Honor those differences and watch what happens!