# The Problems with Deliberate Practice - [[Cedric Chin]] **Link**: [The Problems with Deliberate Practice - Commonplace - The Commoncog Blog](https://commoncog.com/blog/the-problems-with-deliberate-practice/) [[Deliberate Practice]] [[Self Help]] In this article, he mentions how [[Deliberate Practice]] wasn't working for him. [[BOOK - Outliers - Malcolm Gladwell]] instilled the notion that 10k hours of [[Deliberate Practice]] would transform anybody into a master. That idea is so catchy ("[[Memes|memetic]] power" is how Chin puts it) that idea led [[Anders Ericsson]] had to debunk it thoroughly in [[BOOK - Peak - Anders Ericsson, Robert Pool]]. He posits two claims from the [[Deliberate Practice]] camp: - talent is overrated - evidence seems to speak against it, for example the wildly varying amount of practice in top performers - there is a right way and a wrong way to practice - this doesn't apply that easily to fields where no "highly-developed, broadly accepted training methods" exist There is something that [[Anders Ericsson]] calls "purposeful practice": - focused - uncomfortable (takes you out of your comfort zone) - feedback - well-defined and specific goals Deliberate practice adds: - well-established training techniques - initially guided by a teacher - building upon previous skills What are the problems when no well-established techniques exist: - the learner has to do [[Skill Extraction]] (design their own syllabus) ## See also - [[BOOK - Deep Work - Cal Newport]] - [[BOOK - Peak - Anders Ericsson, Robert Pool]] ## Potential further links Contains some critique of [[Anders Ericsson]], and in general seems like a solid academic treatise of [[Expertise]]: - [The Science of Expertise: Behavioral, Neural, and Genetic Approaches t](https://www.routledge.com/The-Science-of-Expertise-Behavioral-Neural-and-Genetic-Approaches-to/Hambrick-Campitelli-Macnamara/p/book/9781138204386) A book that shows how IQ, psychological traits are mostly genetic: - [Blueprint by Robert Plomin review – how DNA dictates who we are | Science and nature books | The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/oct/24/blueprint-by-robert-plomin-review)