To a first approximation, if you ever read a piece that argues for deliberate practice without mention of how difficult it is to actually put DP to practice in most domains, you’re probably dealing with someone who has never tried.
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Deliberate practice is a specific, technical term that refers to a particular kind of practice. It is very effective, but:
- requires a coach
- who focuses you on specific sub-skills
- with good feedback
- therefore only possible in a domain with sufficient pedagogical history
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If the domain you are in doesn’t have sufficient pedagogical development, then DP isn’t possible (at least, according to Ericsson’s definition) because it is unclear what the sub-skills are, or how best to teach them!
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So the irony is that if you want to use DP in your (under-developed) domain, you first have to learn the skill of identifying good subskills!
Unfortunately, this skill ALSO isn’t amenable to DP!
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Saving this thread to reference for the next X times I see a tweet about DP
That and your article series - it put into words what was confusing me about deliberate practice transfer to non sport skills
I appreciate your writing and look forward to more!
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