This book is about unlocking the secret to developing skills in sports, science, math, and just about everything.
How do hotbeds of talent (like the Dominican Republic for baseball and a single tennis court in a small town in Russia for female tennis players) develop and form?
The acquiring of skill uses myelin, the changing of nerve circuits in the brain, that develop learning. All skills and learning are made of circuits. Myelin wraps that circuit so that nothing is lost – it remains insulated.
The talent code =:
- Deep Practice
- Ignition
- Master Coaching
Deep Practice
The author visited what he describes as “the chicken wire Harvards,” of the world; small, isolated places that churn out incredible swaths of world-class talent.
Brazilian soccer players have increased their learning velocity in a very specific way. The key for Brazilian soccer players was Futbol de Salao or Futsal (Football in the Room) a mini version of soccer that allowed increased velocity of learning. Every great Brazilian soccer player plays Futsal prior to full-size soccer. They get 6x more touches than in soccer.
Deep practice = self-directed learning. Rather than being told how to play, they learned on their own. Struggling in targeted ways where you are forced to slow down, make mistakes, and correct them.
The mind does not operate like a tape recorder, instead, it’s like a scaffold that you’re constantly building. Overcoming difficulties is key to growing that scaffold. Choose a goal just beyond your abilities. That’s the sweet spot.
The problem is the thinking is that talent is born, not made. The author argues that the blade can be made by the whetstone and not just a combination of the two.
If you don’t love what you do, you’ll never work hard enough to be great. Passion and persistence are key.
Practice doesn’t make perfect, practice makes myelin. Myelin is formed by action and urgent repetition, not washing over of information. It’s universal – it fits all skills, whether you’re playing shortstop or practicing the violin. Myelin only wraps itself around the nerve and doesn’t unwrap it so which means that habits are hard to break. Age is important-which is why world-class performers often start young.
Anders Ericsson, the psychologist who studied deliberate practice, also concluded that the 10,000-hour mark was the standard of what it takes to be an expert at something. Ten solid years seem to be the commonality amongst world-class performers.
One of the reasons why Florence was the epicenter of Italian Renaissance, churning out so many pieces of art during a two-generation timeframe, was because Florentines invented Guilds surrounding those trades, specialization. This allowed the practice for those types of tradesmen. It’s basically the apprenticeship system.
The author argues that the nature versus nurture debate is not how we develop and how we become successful. It’s actually the myelin firing in our brain helping us to develop skills and insulate the skills.
The Holy Shit effect refers to a casual observer of an individual who looks like an average performer but all of a sudden blossoms into this talented genius.
The difference between a world-class performer and a novice is “chunking.” We see the world differently and have organized it into a distinct manner. Think about an experienced baseball watcher versus the novice cricket spectator.
Going slow allows you to attend with more precision.
There is nothing better than repetition to build skills.
In regards to babies, the amount of time spent trying to walk led directly to the earliness in which a baby walked. It’s hard and involves a lot of struggling and falling.
Ignition
It’s about the moment you say “that is possible,” or “that is who I want to be.” If they can do it, so can I.
One person typically kicks it off – Se Ri Pak in South Korea or Roger Bannister beating the 4-minute mile.
Many world-class talents’ desire for success came from an external factor. Some signal that told them that they could achieve; it ignited them.
We have primal cues. The unconscious motivation is powerful.
It’s why many of the people featured in Encyclopedia Brittanica had lost parents at an early age – that you are not safe so make the best of your abilities – their primal cue.
It’s also why the last child in birth order is the fastest in the family. Speed is not a gift, it’s a skill.
Primal cues can be exclusivity and scarcity. But the key is to keep the motivation burning (Curaçao vs Aruba’s little league baseball teams). One energizing cue is living in a world surrounded by cues (Italian renaissance living in an art-filled world, Dominicans surrounded by baseball practice = you better get busy creating or working towards your goals.)
Master Coaching
Master coaches weren’t necessarily Vince Lombardi-types. They actually shun pep talks and instead are veteran teachers who focused on the niche improvements every single day. They are more like daily farmers and their goal is to help you obtain skills.
One of the best coaches of all time, John Wooden, instructs 75% of the time and only 25% praises his players or uses negative language. Small incremental fine-tuning was key.
Great coaches also create and maintain ignition. They are creating love.
Master coaches instruct their students almost like a GPS navigation system would – turn left here, in 300 feet turn right, you’ve arrived.
Eventually, you want your player or student to become an independent thinker. You can’t breast-feed them all the time. They have to figure it out on their own.
Ignition + Master Coaching + Deep Practice = Talent
The reason Finnish students are so overachieving it’s because teachers are regarded on the same pay level and recognition as doctors. They found a way to internalize the deep practice of teaching.
It’s the reason why Georgetown Kentucky’s Toyota plant is the largest car manufacturer in the United States. Because they embraced Kaizen for continuous improvement. Anybody from the janitor to the CEO can stop the assembly line if there seems to be a problem. If a problem arises, they ask “why” five times.
Arguably people are shy not because they aren’t good socially, but because they haven’t practiced well enough.
Two keys to take home “all the world’s parenting advice can be distilled into two points:”
- Pay attention to what your children are fascinated by.
- Praise them for their effort.
