Gladwell drew a lot of attention to the notion of expertise requiring 10,000 hours. In this podcast, I talk about the original researcher, the very narrow application of the theory, and the set of practical steps anyone can apply for themselves and those they lead (as long as you're really keen and passionate about what performance you're trying to improve.).
We might imagine that a tremendously positive workplace envrionment is a productive place to work. Research shows that a totally positive workplace isn't as productive as you might think. There's a place for negativity in proportion. How can we, individually and in teams, see things and behaviours as they actually are and critique them?
So often we try and teach others or coach others or supervise others in a way that clashes with the way people naturally learn. It's quicker, cheaper, more effective and longer-lasting if we can plug into the way people learn naturally. In this episode, I talk through some techniques to quieten our unhelpful inner mental critics and guide people to leverage the power of their own subconscious minds to practise and learn experientially in a way that sticks and drives purposeful changes in behaviour.
Picture if you will a vertical axis called 'Challenge' and a horizontal axis called 'Skill.' Various combinations of challenge and skill can result in a person being in a state of apathy, worry, control... but what we're aiming for more of is 'FLOW' - a magical (not really magical) state where a high level of skill meets a high level of challenge. Time flies and good things happen.