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Practice trumps talent on road to success
By Wu Jiayin |
June 20, 2009, Saturday
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READING the book "Talent Is Overrated" by Geoff Colvin reminds me of Thomas Edison's frequently quoted saying: "Genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration."
Colvin's book conveys a similar idea: hard work matters more than talent.
Indeed, innate talent or ability is a plus for the few lucky ones. Yet the decisive factor for a great achiever, according to Colvin, is "deliberate practice," or focused, intelligent, well-chosen hard work and practice.
Sustaining deliberate practice is not easy: it requires passion and strong determination.
But you may be better motivated to improve your ability once you understand that talent isn't the decisive factor on your way to success.
The abundant research and examples Colvin cites in the inspiring book illustrates his point.
For example, a 1992 study of 257 music students showed that while there was no profound or conclusive measurement of early musical ability that correlated with top musical performance, there was a big difference in the time of daily practice between top students and low-performing students.
Top students practiced two hours a day compared with 15 minutes a day for the lowest-performing students.
That brings to my mind what Lang Lang, China's famous 27-year-old pianist, once told a child who asked on a TV program for his secret to success: "You must take pains to practice playing piano for eight hours a day for years."
In another case, an examination of the IQs of people who excel shows that while some are brilliant, others are merely bright and some are even below average in general intelligence.
Of course, IQ tests do not measure their exceptional skills very well. Yet this at least proves that "the link between intelligence and high achievement isn't nearly as powerful as we commonly suppose," Colvin writes.
Take Lang Lang's case again. One of his tutors told him that he was not gifted and urged him to give up. Yet he managed to become a master with hard work and perseverance.
Hence Colvin's insightful observation: "The difference between expert performers and normal adults reflects a life-long period of deliberate effort to improve performance in a specific domain."
Deliberate practice is more than hard work, though. It "requires that one identify certain sharply defined elements of performance that need to be improved and then work intently on them," Colvin emphasizes.
Golfer Tiger Woods serves as a good illustration.
Instead of practicing for practice's sake, Woods carefully analyzes the elements of his swing and deliberately designs drills to improve them.
He practices hard even when away from his clubs to enhance strength, flexibility and stamina -- any specific skills he needs in playing golf.
To help readers better engage themselves in deliberate practice, Colvin advises that one should first define a clear goal, then analyze the elements of success and design a program for becoming excellent in each element.
Yet the key, which largely differentiates great performers from average performers, is that one must stick to such deliberate practice.
This can hardly be achieved without passion, observes Colvin.
Admittedly, what at first ignites such strong, long-lived passion can sometimes be outside drives, as in the case of children being forced to practice playing musical instruments by their parents.
But it is usually with the internalized drive that one finally achieves great success.
The change can be so difficult that it even leads Colvin to wonder if the real gift of genius is the capacity for determined practice.
Despite this, Colvin's earnest advice to an average reader is still worth noting: "the price of top-level achievement is extraordinarily high. Perhaps ... not many people will choose to pay it. But ... by understanding how a few become great, anyone can become better.''
Colvin's book conveys a similar idea: hard work matters more than talent.
Indeed, innate talent or ability is a plus for the few lucky ones. Yet the decisive factor for a great achiever, according to Colvin, is "deliberate practice," or focused, intelligent, well-chosen hard work and practice.
Sustaining deliberate practice is not easy: it requires passion and strong determination.
But you may be better motivated to improve your ability once you understand that talent isn't the decisive factor on your way to success.
The abundant research and examples Colvin cites in the inspiring book illustrates his point.
For example, a 1992 study of 257 music students showed that while there was no profound or conclusive measurement of early musical ability that correlated with top musical performance, there was a big difference in the time of daily practice between top students and low-performing students.
Top students practiced two hours a day compared with 15 minutes a day for the lowest-performing students.
That brings to my mind what Lang Lang, China's famous 27-year-old pianist, once told a child who asked on a TV program for his secret to success: "You must take pains to practice playing piano for eight hours a day for years."
In another case, an examination of the IQs of people who excel shows that while some are brilliant, others are merely bright and some are even below average in general intelligence.
Of course, IQ tests do not measure their exceptional skills very well. Yet this at least proves that "the link between intelligence and high achievement isn't nearly as powerful as we commonly suppose," Colvin writes.
Take Lang Lang's case again. One of his tutors told him that he was not gifted and urged him to give up. Yet he managed to become a master with hard work and perseverance.
Hence Colvin's insightful observation: "The difference between expert performers and normal adults reflects a life-long period of deliberate effort to improve performance in a specific domain."
Deliberate practice is more than hard work, though. It "requires that one identify certain sharply defined elements of performance that need to be improved and then work intently on them," Colvin emphasizes.
Golfer Tiger Woods serves as a good illustration.
Instead of practicing for practice's sake, Woods carefully analyzes the elements of his swing and deliberately designs drills to improve them.
He practices hard even when away from his clubs to enhance strength, flexibility and stamina -- any specific skills he needs in playing golf.
To help readers better engage themselves in deliberate practice, Colvin advises that one should first define a clear goal, then analyze the elements of success and design a program for becoming excellent in each element.
Yet the key, which largely differentiates great performers from average performers, is that one must stick to such deliberate practice.
This can hardly be achieved without passion, observes Colvin.
Admittedly, what at first ignites such strong, long-lived passion can sometimes be outside drives, as in the case of children being forced to practice playing musical instruments by their parents.
But it is usually with the internalized drive that one finally achieves great success.
The change can be so difficult that it even leads Colvin to wonder if the real gift of genius is the capacity for determined practice.
Despite this, Colvin's earnest advice to an average reader is still worth noting: "the price of top-level achievement is extraordinarily high. Perhaps ... not many people will choose to pay it. But ... by understanding how a few become great, anyone can become better.''
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