Armchair Expert

When I was 18, I started taking violin lessons for the first time in my life. I had played piano at a concert-level, but had always wanted to learn what new sounds a violin had to offer. I wanted to dive in—I begged my teacher to skip the beginner books.

I was humbled very quickly.

I was left wondering—why is it hard to be bad at something? Why is it hard to learn new skills as adults?

I think part of my answer is found in an earlier blog I wrote on failure—re-framing our expectations of a situation to make failure an option.

I also think approaching a new skill requires an understanding of the cycles and stages of how we actually become experts.

I resonate with Anders Ericsson’s framework for developing expertise outlined in “Peak: Secrets from the new science of expertise.” He writes from a perspective that I think most adult learners would understand: The opportunity cost of learning is high, and a lot of learning has to be done on-the-job. There will be cycles of practice accompanied by heavy feedback. Learning and expertise is developed when someone is willing to be bad at something and then reflect on what to do next time.

I’m excited to work with clients on the reflection piece, and perhaps pinpoint ways to accept or filter feedback to help continue in the cycle of learning and expertise.