Anders Ericsson’s Book Peak: Secrets from The New Science of Expertise
Out of all the books I’ve read in my life, Anders Ericsson’s and Robert Pool’s book Peak: Secrets From the New Science of Expertise may be the most important. Ericsson and Pool do a masterful job in breaking down the exact steps you must follow to become an expert at anything. It almost goes without saying, but knowing this information is priceless.
Ericsson’s research has been on the forefront of the science of expertise for many years. However, his research became pop culture famous when Malcolm Gladwell used it to popularize the idea that it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert in his book Outliers. Outliers is an appetizer, and although it’s an incredibly good book, it doesn’t fill you up. Peak not only fills you up with a main course of information it also provides you with a tasty dessert.
Ericsson and Pool provide the knowledge, the research that backs that knowledge, and step by step guidance on how to apply that knowledge. After reading this book you will have a grasp on what it takes to both teach someone how to become and become a bona fide expert at anything. Casual reading books that cover this much ground are rare.
Deliberate Practice is the Best Way to Become an Expert
To sum it up, Ericsson’s research shows that the best way to become an expert is through deliberate practice. What’s more, natural talent (other than some physical attributes in certain sports) has little to no impact on true mastery.
Yes, traits like IQ and early biological maturity provide advantages to beginners. But these traits are fairly insignificant in the advanced stages of developing expertise. Instead, coaching, practice methods, and the amount of time practicing plays a much bigger role than any natural talent.
Coaching is so important because deliberate practice requires meticulous planning. A coach who uses deliberate practice techniques draws from a highly developed body of knowledge about the best way to improve every aspect of performance in a given area. Then, the coach uses proven training techniques to apply this knowledge to practice.
The coach may or may not have been an expert performer him or herself. That is not a requirement. But the coach must be an expert teacher of deliberate practice techniques.
Finally, as Ericsson’s famous 10,000 hour rule of thumb suggest, it takes an enormous amount of time to become an expert. So, the coach must also be able to teach their student how to execute deliberate practice on their own. Moreover, the student must have a significant amount of self-motivation to follow through with deliberate solo practice.
This is a quick and dirty summary. There’s much more from Ericsson and Pool you can learn regarding coaching techniques, motivation, and brain science. I implore you to read Ericsson’s research and conclusions for yourself. It’s a fun read that goes by faster than you would think since it’s so research intensive. It’s not too often you find a book like this that is both dense with information and easy to digest.