Making of an Expert

The Making of an Expert

I read a great article in the Harvard Business Review (July-Aug issue, 2007) about what it takes to become an expert. The information for the article came from The Cambridge Handbook of Expertise and Expert Performance, a 900-page-plus handbook, with contributions from more than 100 leading scientists.
 
The conclusion of the study, based on decades of rigorous research using verifiable and reproducible scientific methods, prove with overwhelming results that experts are always made, not born.

That doesn’t mean that the development of genuine expertise happens overnight. It typically takes 10 years of struggle, sacrifice, and honest, often painful self-assessment. 

And there are no shortcuts. Research shows that in order to become an expert, one must: practice intensively, study with devoted teachers, and have enthusiastic support throughout their development.

What is an expert?

Real expertise has three requirements: 

• First, it must lead to performance that is consistently superior to ones peers. 
• Second, real expertise produces concrete results. 
• And third, expertise can be replicated and measured in a lab…  Because, if a skill can’t be measured, it can’t be improved.

Practice Deliberately

Not all practice makes perfect.  When most people practice, they focus on things that they’re already good at. But if you want to be an expert in your field, you can’t just practice, you have to practice deliberately. Deliberate practice involves making a considerable, specific, and sustained effort to improve upon the things that you can’t do, instead of simply focusing on the things that you can.      

Biblical Principle

    "Show me a man diligent in a his work and he will stand before kings, not before mean men."  Proverbs 22:29