Josh Kaufman is the author of the bestseller “The Personal MBA”. One of my all-time favorite books about business. A book considered the Bible of business by many. In this book, he shows us how we can reach a good level at anything we learn the first time or even re-learn if we give it 20 hours.
According to the author, deliberate practice is the core of skill acquisition. The amount of time it will take to acquire a skill is a matter of how much concentrated time we are willing to invest in deliberate practice and smart experimentation. Learning is valuable but must not be confused with skill acquisition. If we want to acquire a new skill, we must practice it in context. Learning enhances practice but it doesn’t replace it. If performance matters, learning alone is never enough. Skill acquisition requires practicing the skill in significant periods of focused concentration.
He lays down the 10 significant principles of skill acquisition.
1. Choose a lovable project.
The more excited you are about the skill you want to acquire, the more quickly you’ll acquire it. You naturally learn things you care about faster than things you don’t.
2. Focus your energy on one skill at a time.
Pick one, and only one new skill you wish to acquire. Put all of your spare focus and energy into acquiring that skill, and place other skills on temporary hold.
3. Define your target performance level.
Define what good enough looks like for you. The more specific it is, the better. The best target performance levels seem just out of reach, not out of the realm of possibility. As a rule, the more relaxed your target performance level, the more rapidly you can acquire the associated skill.
4. Deconstruct the skill into sub-skills.
Deconstructing a skill makes it easier to avoid feeling overwhelmed. Identify the sub-skills that appear to be most important and focus on the first. You’ll make more progress with less effort.
5. Obtain critical tools.
By ensuring you have the resources you need before you begin, you maximize your practice time.
6. Eliminate barriers to practice.
By rearranging your environment to make it easy to start practicing, you’ll acquire the skill in far less time.
7. Make dedicated time for practice.
The larger the dedicated block of time you set aside for practice, the better. Make time for at least ninety minutes of practice a day. And pre-commit to completing at least twenty hours of practice once you start.
8. Create fast feedback loops.
Fast feedback leads to rapid skill acquisition. The more sources of feedback you integrate into your practice, the faster you’ll acquire the skill.
9. Practice by the clock in short bursts.
Get a timer and set it each time for the time you want to practice. Practice until it goes off. No exceptions. The more periods of sustained practice you complete, the faster your skill acquisition. For rapid progress, set aside time for three to five twenty minutes of practice sessions a day.
10. Emphasize quantity and speed.
Instead of trying to be perfect, focus on practicing as much as you can as quickly as you can while maintaining “good enough” form.
Practice is essential for skill acquisition but learning makes your practice more efficient. And in that spirit, he gives the 10 major principles of effective learning.
1. Research the skill and related topics.
Spend some time searching for resources connected to the skill you’re trying to acquire.
2. Jump in over your head.
If you’re not confused by at least half of your early research, you’re not learning as quickly as you’re capable of. Feeling stupid isn’t fun. However, reminding yourself that you will understand with practice will help you move from confusion to clarity as quickly as possible.
3. Identify mental models and mental hooks.
The more mental models and hooks you can identify in your early research, the easier it will be to use them while practicing.
4. Imagine the opposite of what you want.
A counterintuitive way to gain insight into a new skill is to contemplate disaster, not perfection. By studying the opposite of what you want, you can identify important elements that aren’t immediately obvious.
5. Talk to practitioners to set expectations.
Talking to people who have acquired the skill before you will help dispel myths and misconceptions before you invest your time and energy. By knowing what you can expect to see as you progress, you’ll find it much easier to sustain your interest in practice and avoid becoming discouraged early in the process.
6. Eliminate distractions in your environment.
The fewer distractions you have while practicing, the more quickly you’ll acquire the skill.
7. Used spaced repetition and reinforcement for memorization.
Spaced repetition and reinforcement is a memorization technique that helps you systematically review important concepts and information regularly. Ideas that are difficult to remember are reviewed often, while easier and older concepts are reviewed less often.
8. Create scaffolds and checklists.
Checklists are handy for remembering things that must be done every time you practice. They’re a way to systematize the process, which frees your attention to focus on more important matters. Scaffolds are structures that ensure you approach the skill the same way every time. Creating scaffolds and checklists makes your practice more efficient, and easier to visualize, which helps you take advantage of mental rehearsal, which can help with some forms of physical practice.
9. Make and test predictions.
The true test of useful learning is prediction. Based on what you know, can you guess how a change or experiment will turn out before you do it? Getting into the habit of making and testing predictions will help you acquire skills more rapidly.
10. Honor your biology.
According to Tony Schwartz, the optimal learning cycle appears to be approximately ninety minutes of focused concentration. Any more, and your mind and body will naturally need a break.
The rest of the book is the author documenting how he acquired 6 skills: yoga, programming, touch typing, go, ukulele, and windsurfing.
You’ve probably heard of the 10,000 hours popularized by Malcolm Gladwell. And maybe that stopped you from trying to learn new things. Well, you don’t have to put 10,000 hours into a skill to be able to perform at a good enough level. Invest 20 hours, 20 hours of deliberate practice. After that, you’ll see if you like the skill enough to invest in what it takes to reach the expert level.
Barberaz 🇫🇷