I posted here on the “Mind-Set” issue – is it talent or continually learning that brings success? This post on Freaking Marketing led me to this article on Fortune from October 2006. They ask a similar question. What makes someone great? Is it innate ability or is it effort, practice, etc? Their research concurs with the Mind-Set point of view – practice makes perfect.
The article is well worth the read but it is long so to recap quickly:
- Talent has little or nothing to do with greatness.
- The best people in any field are those who devote the most hours to what the researchers call "deliberate practice.” Deliberate practice is activity that reaches for objectives just beyond one's level of competence, provides feedback on results and involves high levels of repetition.
- People need around ten years of hard work before becoming world-class, a pattern so well established researchers call it the ten-year rule.
- In virtually every field of endeavor, most people learn quickly at first, then more slowly and then stop developing completely.
So the research is saying anyone can be great if they spend 10 years practicing and stretching their limits. This can be applied, as the article states, to business as well as other endeavors. Think of giving presentations. You can always practice more, read more about how to present, how to use props, how to structure your argument, etc. Practice the craft and you will be great at it. The point is to focus your mindset on getting better at something – not getting something right.
They do make the point in the article the one big question left (and the one that changes this from a “simple” thing to a difficult one) – what motivates these people to put in the time?
Some of us naturally have this mind set. Some will never have it. The rest of us though, can work to attain it. From a company point of view, you can provide recognition for the trying, not the succeeding. You can create programs that focus on getting better at the smaller steps in a process. Create an environment where learning and practicing are as valuable as the success itself. As I stated in the Effort vs Ability post - it's not one thing - it's a lot of different things.
When developing your next performance initiative take the time to think about the small steps you can reward over and over - encourage practice - encourage stretching. Give people a reason to move outside their comfort zone. Designing a program like this will not only provide the person with some valuable feedback on their progress - it will make them - and possibly your company great!
A
Marketing and Incentive Design Consultancy