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stacykozisek's review against another edition
2.0
Interesting concept but could have easily been cut in half and still gotten the same amount of information from it, far too repetitive.
The Audible narration was terrible, would not recommend trying to listen to it. The recording quality was fine but the narrator was really difficult to listen to.
The Audible narration was terrible, would not recommend trying to listen to it. The recording quality was fine but the narrator was really difficult to listen to.
guategeek's review against another edition
3.0
Good to see how practice is important, and what things are needed to make practice actually improve us. It still felt very heady, and conceptual with not a lot of helpful info on how to create purposeful or deliberate practice in areas you may want to improve in. If those areas already have coaches and systems of deliberate practice then you can be a part of that (music, some sports ext.). But if you are going after something new or different it kind of leaves you feeling lost. Some of the book I found inspiring and hope inducing and other parts I found depressing and discouraging.
Its an interesting topic and has things worth thinking about, but it is a slow and somewhat difficult read to get through.
Its an interesting topic and has things worth thinking about, but it is a slow and somewhat difficult read to get through.
toniclark's review against another edition
5.0
The relative contributions of talent and hard work to expert performance — especially in the arts — is a particular interest of mine. What is genius? Are some people just born with the ability to be outstanding writers, musicians, painters?
I've spent much of my life writing fiction and poetry. I've always pretty much believed that "success is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration" (Edison). And as Stephen King has said, "Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work." Of course, it's the follow-through that's the tough part. Most of us are never taught how to learn, how to master a skill. And just putting in the long hours doesn't always (or even usually) result in expertise.
The results of decades of research couldn't be more clear. Regardless of whether we're talking about violin virtuosos, sports stars, or math wizards, there's really no such thing as inborn genius. Some people may have more of an aptitude for, a leaning toward, or love of, one skill or art than another. But no one succeeds without hard work. And even someone with no particular aptitude can develop astounding expertise with — important! — the right kind of work, that is focused, deliberate practice that includes setting the right kind of goals, "chunking" (breaking down a task into smaller units and mastering them), getting feedback, and correcting course when necessary. The work of Ericsson and others is mind-blowing in a way. And it proves that just about anyone can achieve excellence in a field or skill. It still won't be easy, but it'll be possible.
This is an amazing book. It should give everyone hope and confidence in their own abilities. No matter their age or interest.
I've spent much of my life writing fiction and poetry. I've always pretty much believed that "success is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration" (Edison). And as Stephen King has said, "Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work." Of course, it's the follow-through that's the tough part. Most of us are never taught how to learn, how to master a skill. And just putting in the long hours doesn't always (or even usually) result in expertise.
The results of decades of research couldn't be more clear. Regardless of whether we're talking about violin virtuosos, sports stars, or math wizards, there's really no such thing as inborn genius. Some people may have more of an aptitude for, a leaning toward, or love of, one skill or art than another. But no one succeeds without hard work. And even someone with no particular aptitude can develop astounding expertise with — important! — the right kind of work, that is focused, deliberate practice that includes setting the right kind of goals, "chunking" (breaking down a task into smaller units and mastering them), getting feedback, and correcting course when necessary. The work of Ericsson and others is mind-blowing in a way. And it proves that just about anyone can achieve excellence in a field or skill. It still won't be easy, but it'll be possible.
This is an amazing book. It should give everyone hope and confidence in their own abilities. No matter their age or interest.
josh_paul's review against another edition
5.0
My one complaint is that the marketing people at the publisher clearly dickered with the (sub)title. Nothing in this book is a secret. It's a summary of academic research from the last ~30+ yrs on skill acquisitions (much of which was done by Ericsson), written for a popular audience. There are no secrets, and nor is there any "new science of expertise." There's a research program in psychology that's been around for decades and has discovered some interesting stuff. That should be sufficient to interest people.
bookloverchelle's review against another edition
4.0
A very interesting listen, sharing stories and antidotes of how people are becoming experts in their fields. Offers info on how to study or practice talents on how to reach your peak potential. Enjoyable listen, very informative.
clarks_dad's review against another edition
5.0
A wonderfully readable book on the science behind expert performance. Malcolm Gladwell popularized the idea of the 10,000 hour rule in his book [b:Outliers: The Story of Success|3228917|Outliers The Story of Success|Malcolm Gladwell|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1344266315s/3228917.jpg|3364437], but the notion that innate talent is bullshit comes from the work of Anders Ericsson, who clarifies and adds nuance to the 10,000 hour rule.
This book is filled with examples of expert performers and their training regimens as well as some generally applicable rules for those who want to systematically and programmatically increase their performance in anything from language speaking to digit memorization. It can get a little repetitive at times, but I found myself reading this over the course of a few months, so the iterative examples really came in handy. The basic idea is that practice should be engaging and require all of your attention. Change and improvement comes from incremental changes and improvements to small parts of what ultimately goes into an expert performance. For example, if you wish to become a better swimmer, you don't just swim for 10,000 hours. Every training session should involve a specific focus: improving your turn, working on your start, improving your stroke (even as minutely as how you place your fingers)—receiving some feedback, either from watching yourself or from having an expert performer watch and coach you, and trying again. All practice should be difficult and at the edge of your ability. Rinse and repeat. It's simple, but the mythologizing behind the idea of genius and natural talent has in many ways prevented discourse like this. It's given an excuse and an out to those who give up too easily or for the wrong reasons and it's prevented people from pursuing fields and hobbies that they might otherwise have been good at.
Ericsson provides hope to the layman. The path is arduous, but he's demystified pretty thoroughly what it takes to be good at anything. I'm assigning this as mandatory reading for my AVID class this coming year and I'm changing my teaching practice to skill-based learning in response. I'll have to update this review at the end of the next school year to see how it works out in practice.
This book is filled with examples of expert performers and their training regimens as well as some generally applicable rules for those who want to systematically and programmatically increase their performance in anything from language speaking to digit memorization. It can get a little repetitive at times, but I found myself reading this over the course of a few months, so the iterative examples really came in handy. The basic idea is that practice should be engaging and require all of your attention. Change and improvement comes from incremental changes and improvements to small parts of what ultimately goes into an expert performance. For example, if you wish to become a better swimmer, you don't just swim for 10,000 hours. Every training session should involve a specific focus: improving your turn, working on your start, improving your stroke (even as minutely as how you place your fingers)—receiving some feedback, either from watching yourself or from having an expert performer watch and coach you, and trying again. All practice should be difficult and at the edge of your ability. Rinse and repeat. It's simple, but the mythologizing behind the idea of genius and natural talent has in many ways prevented discourse like this. It's given an excuse and an out to those who give up too easily or for the wrong reasons and it's prevented people from pursuing fields and hobbies that they might otherwise have been good at.
Ericsson provides hope to the layman. The path is arduous, but he's demystified pretty thoroughly what it takes to be good at anything. I'm assigning this as mandatory reading for my AVID class this coming year and I'm changing my teaching practice to skill-based learning in response. I'll have to update this review at the end of the next school year to see how it works out in practice.