Perfect Practice Makes Perfect

How do those at the top of their game get there? Someone like Olympian gymnast Shawn Johnson. Or up-and-comer COO David Stark at Iowa Health-Des Moines. They practice. Perfectly.

For most of us --most of the time--we reach our highest level of proficiency after about 50 hours of practicing something new, such as driving, golf, tennis, or keyboarding. Because it's working for us, we stop trying to get better and our development stalls out. Once you learned how to do a decent PowerPoint presentation on your laptop, did you tease out all the hundreds of options available, or did "good enough" become good enough? Usually it's the latter. And that's OK. The added effort it would take to become a presentation expert often isn't worth it.

But what about your level of proficiency as a manager? Or the technical aspects of your profession or career? As a manager, did your coaching, interviewing and delegating skills reach an acceptable level and then plateau? Studies show that many professionals --software engineers, teachers, brain surgeons, etc. --peak somewhere around five years after entering the profession. From then on, there's often little correlation between time in the profession and performance levels. That's not good.

Want to be the best of the best in your field? Then practice what Dr. Anders Ericsson calls "deliberate" practice. Here's what it looks like to practice perfectly:

1.) Concentrate hard on what you're doing: what's working, what isn't and why. Turn off the autopilot. Really focus.

2.) Get clear, frequent and rapid feedback about how you're doing. Stop thinking negatively about tests...how else will you know you're making progress?

3.) Set "mini" goals that are behavior-based, not outcome-based. Mastery will come when behaviors have been mastered.

4.) Prepare for setbacks. See them as "guides," not barriers.

Supposedly, Pablo Picasso was walking down the street in Paris one day when a woman recognized and approached him. After introducing herself and praising his work, she asked him if he would consider drawing her portrait and offered to pay him for the piece.

Picasso agreed and sat the woman down right there on the side of the street, brought out a sketchbook and pencil, and began to draw the woman. A small crowd of spectators gathered very quickly, but in only a handful of minutes Picasso had finished the drawing, and as he handed it to the woman said, "That will be five thousand francs." Surprised at the price, the woman objected saying, "But Mr. Picasso, it took you only a few minutes." Picasso smiled and replied, "No, my dear woman, you are mistaken; it took me a whole lifetime."

Picasso became the famed Picasso not because he practiced his whole life, but because he practiced perfectly.