Join getAbstract to access the summary!

Robert Pool and Anders Ericsson

Peak

Secrets from the New Science of Expertise

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016

15 min read

9 take-aways

Audio & text

What's inside?

“Deliberate practice” is the smarter way to gain expertise.

Upgrade for audio

Listen to MP3
Audio Summary

Editorial Rating

Qualities

Overview
Concrete Examples

Recommendation

What appears to be genius is not so uncommon. Mozart’s sister, Maria Anna, was also a child prodigy. The difference for top performers isn’t practice – it’s “deliberate practice,” a focused method of systematic improvement that psychologist Anders Ericsson spent a lifetime studying. He and co-author Robert Pool explain the science that supports deliberate practice and illustrate their manual with historical examples of top performers.

Summary

Practice and the time they devote to the practice differentiates top and average performers.

“Purposeful practice” aims at specific, well-defined targets.

Instead of practicing your golf game, think specifically about what you need to do to reduce your handicap five strokes. Focus, perhaps, on adjusting your swing. Effective practice helps change your brain to increase your playing ability.

Focused practice that challenges homeostasis changes the brain.

Your brain size may not change, but the brain is highly adaptable, or plastic. When you undertake a physical fitness program, muscle cells contract and use available oxygen and energy. But now the bloodstream needs more, so you breathe deeper and tap other sources of energy. If you maintain a program of physical exercise that challenges the body, your cells respond by changing, activating different genes to handle the change. The muscles involved eventually create a “new comfort zone.” By setting up a program that offers continual challenge, “just outside your comfort zone,” you keep improving.

The brain responds similarly to challenges by rewiring neuronal connections rather than generating new ...

About the Authors

Conradi eminent scholar Anders Ericsson, PhD, teaches psychology at Florida State University. Robert Pool has a PhD in mathematics and is a science journalist.

Comment on this summary

More on this topic

In our Journal

1 year ago

Journal Article

Learning Myths Debunked

No, putting that textbook under your pillow while you sleep won’t make you smarter. Business leaders realize they will need to invest in continuous learning to keep up with the pace of change. Companies with a learning culture are more agile when facing challenges. Despite a commitment to learning, many people still hold erroneous ideas about […]

1 year ago

Journal Article

How to Cultivate Grit

You have the talent and the skill, but do you have the drive to succeed? Psychologist Angela Duckworth is synonymous with the term “grit.” Grit, more so than any other character trait, she says, is what separates the successful from the also-rans. What is grit and how can you build more of it into your […]

1 year ago

Journal Article

The Pizza Margherita Method for Self-Fulfillment

Lots of things in life go down the drain. Trite calendar slogans provided by self-help literature won’t help you cope. But what does? Some years back, author Rhonda Byrne wrote The Secret, a slightly esoteric book about the secret of success, happiness, satisfaction and the works. It sold millions of copies worldwide. Byrne had her […]

2 years ago

Journal Article

The 9 Megatrends That Will Boost Your Organization’s Legs

One way or another. We searched through many recent studies and forecasts, including those from the WEF, the US National Intelligence Council’s Global Trends Report, Brookings Institution, Future Today Institute and MIT Sloan Management Review. They agree on a number of major issues that should be on your radar if you want to have a […]

2 years ago

Journal Article

“The Growth Mind-Set Is Almost a Ticket to Entry to Becoming an Effective Learner”

Matthew Smith, chief learning officer at McKinsey, opens up about simple and actionable learning practices that will make you an intentional learner in no time. Matt, at McKinsey, you took a hard look at what it takes to become an intentional learner – and that this gives leaders enormous advantages when it comes to keeping […]

2 years ago

Journal Article

How to Climb the Career Ladder Faster

Without being a ****. Personal progress is a matter of moving forward, sure, and upward, at best. But where forward and up are, you should define before you start running! A few simple questions that everyone should answer for themselves can help: Where do you want to go? What is your goal? What motivates you? […]

2 years ago

Journal Article

Our Favorite Books of 2020

Even a messed-up year can produce fantastic new releases. Here, getAbstract team members share their summary favorites. Many people had more time to read this year (than perhaps they wanted to). At getAbstract, the demand for new books was so great that each of us had to work a few night shifts and go the […]