Guo Jingin of China won the Olympic Gold on the 3 Meter Springboard event in Beijing. She started training for this event 12 years ago at the age of 14.  As it ends up, she is the most decorated diver in history. For 12 years she remained centered, fighting through life’s distractions.  Most of us would have moved way beyond that ability to focus. The research of one psychologist helps us understand how to apply the same powerful results to our lives. Anders Ericsson offers an interesting interpretation of how people become peak performers. He doesn’t believe their success has anything to do with luck or even superb mental or physical abilities. Rather, Ericsson has demonstrated that people advance to top level performance through something called deliberate practice.

Most of us have heard the adage that practice makes perfect. A refinement of the same adage is that practice doesn’t make perfect. Rather, Perfect practice makes perfect. Ericsson has spent most of his career proving this. His research suggests that excellence is not a matter of genetic gifts; instead it is a matter of knowing how to enhance your skills through deliberate practice. For example, Ericsson describes how dedicated figure skaters practice differently on the ice. Olympic hopefuls work on the skills they have yet to master. Club skaters, in contrast, work on skills they have already mastered. And amateurs tend to spend half of their time at the rink chatting with friends and not practicing at all.

Interestingly, Ericsson’s findings are true for most skills. This includes playing chess, excellence at the violin, other sporting events; and the evidence broadens further into giving speeches, interpersonal relationships, and holding emotional, sensitive, or high-stake conversations.

Isn’t it interesting how many people find little  problem in applying Ericsson’s theory to physical tasks like sports. (Many credit cards have been swiped hiring a golf pro to help with that nasty slice.) However, few people ever think of practicing with a coach to learn how to get along with board members or coworkers, motivate team members to improve their quality measures, emotionally connect with a troubled teen, or talk to a physician about a medical error. Most of us never think about finding a coach to help  improve our interpersonal skill sets.

However, that is precisely what would jettison many towards the personal goals they seek. Consider a common problem. Your very Type-A and dominant boss seems to be making comments which are at face value OK, but show technical imprecision. With time, this problem seems to worsen. You have taken a chance to tactfully correct him on a couple of occasions. Unfortunately, he becomes increasingly defensive as the problem worsens. At this point, you aren’t exactly sure what to say or how to say it. You lack confidence in such situations.  Speaking up to an authority figure requires skill, and skill requires practice.  Interpersonal interactions can be extremely complicated, and most individuals will improve their skills only after receiving concise coaching…which includes deliberate practice.

The good news is that many of the persistent challenges we face stem more from a lack of skill, which stems from a lack of deliberate practice, than from diluted genes, lack of courage, or a character flaw.

Here’s to Growth,

Tim