Problem: Over this last weekend, I recently came across FS’ guide on Deliberate Practice. As they argue,
If we want to improve a skill, we need to know what exactly has to change and what might get us there. Otherwise, we plateau… Deliberate practice is the only way to:
(1) Reach expert-level performance and enjoy competitive success
(2) Overcome plateaus in our skill level
(3) Improve at a skill much faster than through regular practice
This blog post will focus on understanding how to improve this skill of Deliberate Practice, most commonly attributed to Karl Anders Ericsson (a leader in the field of performance psychology). In particular, it will detail and explain 9 features that an app like this should have based on scientific research to be the most effective.
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Suppose you wanted to learn how to play the piano, ride a bike, swim, or more: what would you do to learn that as quickly as possible? Ideally, the solution would be “download this app” to guide and track your deliberate practice.
Feature 1: Practice Calendar Break Downs. Allow users to take big goals and break them down into smaller component parts for intentional practice and improvement.
Evidence from FS: Take the skill you’re aiming to improve and break it down into the smallest possible component parts. Make a plan for working through them in a logical order, beginning with the fundamentals, then building upon them. Decide which parts you’d like to master over the next month. Put your practice sessions in your calendar, then plan precisely which parts of the skill you’re going to work on during each session.
Don’t expect your plan to be perfect. You’ll likely need to keep modifying it as you discover new elements or unexpected weaknesses. The most important thing is to always go into practice with a plan for what you’re working on and how. Knowing what you’re doing next is the best way to stay on track and avoid aimless time-wasting. That means seeking to keep figuring out what separates you from the next level of performance so you can concentrate on that.
Feature 2: Daily Practice Session Ranking. Allow users to rank how their practice was according to “comfortable”; “learning”; and “panic”. Display this in aggregate in order to show individuals how their practice may or may not be improving over time.
Evidence from FS: Noel Tichy, professor at the University of Michigan business school and the former chief of General Electric’s famous management development center at Crotonville, puts the concept of practice into three zones: the comfort zone, the learning zone, and the panic zone.
Feature 3: Daily Practice Tracker. Similar to Apple’s “closing the ring” create incentives for daily practice to both occur and be tracked easily.
Evidence from FS: Even fitting in a single hour per day of deliberate practice is ample time to make substantial improvements, especially when we’re consistent with committing to it over the long haul. Continuous investments in success compound. In the long run, commitment pays off.
Feature 4: Mind Numbing Task Nudger. Like the body, the mind needs rest after strenuous activities. Build into this app nudging tools which ensure that users are taking the time to rest in between tough tasks. Users can build a list of tasks they enjoy and nudges can be sent at random.
Evidence from FS: Make a list of activities you can engage in without too much conscious thought, letting yourself daydream while you do them. Common examples include going for a walk, washing the dishes, taking a shower, free-writing in a journal, playing with a toy like Lego, driving a familiar route, gardening, cooking, listening to music, or just gazing out the window. When you feel yourself getting tired or hitting a roadblock during deliberate practice, don’t keep pushing for too long. You want to be stretching yourself, not exhausting yourself. Instead, switch to one of those more relaxing activities for at least five minutes. You’ll likely come back to practice with new connections or at last feeling refreshed.
Feature 5: Metric Based Practice. The app will take on the form of a Workday or OKRHub, quickly ensuring that individuals have set OKRs for what they hope to achieve with their goals. These will update quarterly depending on progress.
Evidence from FS: Identify the most significant metrics related to performance in your chosen skill and keep a record of them each time you practice. It’s easy to fool yourself without a clear record of how you’re doing. You might want to break the skill down into a few different parts to measure it, but make sure you’re not fixating on vanity metrics.
Feature 6: Coach Matching. At scale, this app could also implement social features similar to Strava for friends and strangers. While friends would encourage individuals to stick to their goals, strangers could act as peer-coaches or peer-mentors.
Evidence from FS: Ericsson explained that “the best way to get past any barrier is to come at it from a different direction, which is one reason it is useful to work with a teacher or coach.” We often make the same mistakes again and again because we simply don’t realize what we’re doing. Our performance falls into ruts and we can’t figure out why we’re running into the same problem yet again.
Feature 6.5: Metacognition Coaching. Before reaching scale, the app would offer metacognition coaching. Stopping people mid-practice of whatever skill they hope to learn and asking them “what are you thinking?” and recording the thoughts of the practice as it happens.
Evidence from FS: But what if you don’t have access to a coach?… Colvin explains:
The best performers observe themselves closely. They are in effect able to step outside themselves, monitor what is happening in their own minds, and ask how it’s going. Researchers call this metacognition—knowledge about your own knowledge, thinking about your own thinking. Top performers do this much more systematically than others do; it’s an established part of their routine…
A critical part of self-evaluation is deciding what caused those errors. Average performers believe their errors were caused by factors outside their control: my opponent got lucky; the task was too hard; I just don’t have the natural ability for this. Top performers, by contrast, believe they are responsible for their errors. Note that this is not just a difference of personality or attitude. Recall that the best performers have set highly specific, technique-based goals and strategies for themselves; they have thought through exactly how they intend to achieve what they want. So when something doesn’t work, they can relate the failure to specific elements of their performance that may have misfired.
Feature 7: Motivation Journal. When things are tough, individuals will often lose motivation to work on a task. This app (perhaps on the homepage or login page) will display to individuals their motivations for embarking on their deliberate practice. Outside of this reminder, they could also navigate to these pages.
Evidence from FS: Make a list of the reasons you want to work on a skill and the benefits getting better at it might bring. Before you begin a deep practice session, reread the list to remind you of why you’re bringing your full focus to something difficult. You could also list some of the benefits you’ve experienced from it in the past or include quotes from top performers in your field you find inspiring. It might feel cheesy, but it can provide a powerful boost during particularly difficult practice moments. Try to focus on intrinsic reasons and benefits, such as feeling fulfilled.
Feature 8: Big rocks management. This platform would allow you to describe and record the tasks that you have to complete and while completing your to-do list, it would remind you of the “big rocks” that you have to complete. It would serve as a reminder to “do the important things first.'“
Evidence from FS: Put the big rocks in first. You can do anything, but you can’t do everything. Figure out which practice activities have the biggest influence on your performance and plan to engage in those first before you even consider activities that offer marginal gains.
Feature 9: Learning Reminders. Learning is just one part of the equation: the second (and arguably more important part) is reviewing the skills. My high school teacher used to always “you need to be reminded more than you’re taught.” This is especially true for new skills development and learning.
Evidence from FS: Forget about cramming. Each time you’re learning a new component of a skill, make a schedule for when you’ll review it. Typical systems involve going over information after an hour, then a day, then every other day, then weekly, then fortnightly, then monthly, then every six months, then yearly. Guess correctly and the information moves to the next level and is reviewed less often. Guess incorrectly and it moves down a level and is reviewed more often.
Contributed by: Michael Bervell (Billion Dollar Startup Ideas)