[General Company] is looking for people with 4 characteristics:

It's a natural ability that allows you to do something better than most people

exists in almost any field

People are born with similar abilities, but these abilities are developed to different degrees over the course of their lives.

People's achievements are mainly determined by how much they practice

Talent is not a gift given by nature

There is currently no evidence that a particular human genome can be linked to a certain talent.

Example: [Mozart] became Mozart through astonishing hard work

Example: [Woods] was asked about the reason for his extraordinary achievements, and his father and son gave the same answer; "Practice hard."

Example: [Welch] He received his master's and doctorate degrees in chemistry from the University of Illinois. He was 25 years old when he entered the society, but he still couldn't determine his direction. He studied at Syracuse University and West Virginia He looked for a teaching position at the university and decided to work in chemical research and development at General Electric Company.

Example: [Bill Gates] His software technology cannot be the key to his success. The key to success lies in his various abilities to start and run a large enterprise.

Example: [Rockefeller] A woman who tutored the young Rockefeller recalled: "I don't remember Rockefeller ever excelling in anything. I just remember that he worked hard at everything he did. He didn't talk much, but he was very diligent in studying."

Example: [Warren Buffett] Buffett's father is a stockbroker and investor, and little Buffett admires his father very much, so it is not surprising that he is obsessed with stocks and investments. Buffett worked in his father's company when he was 11 years old, so he was able to understand investment at a young age, but there is no evidence that he was very good at investment and financial management at a young age.

[Talent] is far from as important as we usually think, and it does not play as decisive a role as we think.

Simple "practice makes perfect" is not high-intensity "deliberate practice"

Intrinsic motivation and the need for deliberate practice come together to form a specific mechanism

Flow: A person is completely immersed in a certain task, time seems to slow down, the person's mood becomes very happy, and the work seems effortless.

The concept of flow is the motivation for relentless practice

Multiplier effect: Every increase in ability leads to a better environment, which then further improves their abilities.

The multiplier effect can stimulate people's enterprising spirit

Extrinsic motivation is very effective in strengthening intrinsic motivation

External motivation can help things get going and serve as motivation and stimulation.

Note: Some external motivations limit creative development

Example: The 7 greatest creators of the early 20th century: Einstein, Eliot, Freud, Mahatma Gandhi, Graham, Picasso and Igor Stravinsky

Example: Lafley, President of Procter & Gamble, said: The knowledge you learn during a crisis is 10 times that of what you learn under normal circumstances.

Example: Whirlpool CEO Jeff Fettich: A large part of the reason why I am where I am today is because of the help of several people, especially during my long career before I became famous. They provided me with guidance and consultation. It has been of great help to my development.

Example: Colonel Thomas Colditz of West Point Military Academy said: Over the past 25 years, [the summary system] has fundamentally changed the military.

Example: General Electric Company has a very strict incentive system. 25% of the variable salary of managers depends on talent development. The General Electric Croton School of Management, located in northern New York City, is a beautiful campus covering an area of ​​52 acres.

GE's real product is not light bulbs or electric motors, but business leaders, and cultivating business leaders has been the company's focus since its inception.

Essential elements: well-designed practice activities, coaching, repetition, feedback, self-regulation, building knowledge, and building mental models

The principle of outstanding achievement can be used for both individual development and team development.

Building great teams involves being good at or solving side effects

Try to improve a specific aspect of your skills, lots of repetition, immediate feedback

Self-regulation before work

Self-regulation at work

Self-regulation after work

creating a powerful self-reinforcing cycle

Deep expertise is important to perform well

At work, you don’t have to wait for knowledge to come to you, you can pursue knowledge

Learn the history of the industry, identify the leaders, access all the information you can get, get a multi-faceted view of the industry, and track key statistics and important trends

When you increase your industry knowledge, it is important to note that your goal is not to collect a large amount of information, you are to build a mental model, a picture of how your brain works systematically.

The defining characteristic of great achievers: They have highly developed, sophisticated mental models of their fields.

Mental models can be improved through deliberate practice or improving self-awareness at work, and of course, learning and enhancing knowledge, deliberately building and enriching mental models.

Example: High-level professional golfers will know where the serve will land earlier than ordinary players.

Example: Having extremely fast reaction speed (professional golfers attach great importance to deliberate practice)

The average player's eyes are focused on the ball. The best players often don't look at the ball. They look at their opponent's hips, shoulders and arms. These areas can tell in advance where the opponent is going to hit the ball. [Because they found a way to respond quickly without speeding up their reaction speed. This is the direction of deliberate practice]

The eyes of experts are not sharper in the usual sense. When watching the same film, the difference is not in what they can see, but in what they can perceive and understand.

Great achievements do not come from profound knowledge, but from superb thinking methods and thinking abilities

The critical role of knowledge requires that outstanding people develop another key trait

Concept: The average short-term memory can only remember 7 things

The superb abilities possessed by outstanding people do not happen by chance. They are based on a deep understanding of the field and can only be acquired through years of practice.

clear and planned

to improve performance

Can be repeated many times

Teacher help is often needed

Feedback on results is available on an ongoing basis

Designed to improve performance

Can be repeated multiple times

Very troublesome

not much fun

Feedback on results is available on an ongoing basis