For a long time, the gurus and popular science literature have told us that the best way to master anything is by engaging in deliberate practice. Unfortunately, as I explain in The Myth of Deliberate Practice and Mastery, it’s not that straightforward. As I summarise below, deliberate practice works well in ‘kind’ learning environments but isn’t particularly effective in ‘wicked’ learning environments.

Now I want to double down on the usefulness of deliberate practice specifically as it relates to business and leadership. Can deliberate practice help you master these disciplines? It turns out that whilst it can be very helpful in the earlier stages of your leadership journey, it becomes less helpful as you advance in your executive career. That’s because of the ‘wicked’ nature and complexity of the learning environments that senior leaders operate in.

Perhaps the self-improvement literature’s biggest act of mis-selling is telling us that if we want to improve at anything then we need to undertake deliberate practice. According to one guru “regardless of where we choose to apply ourselves, deliberate practice can help us maximize our potential”. It sounds enticing, but it’s incorrect. Deliberate practice won’t necessarily help you achieve mastery regardless of where you choose to apply yourself.

Whether you’re a founder, CEO, investor or other professional striving to be the very best at what you do, how can you accelerate your journey towards mastery? As an executive coach, how can I work with someone who already has a solid level of business experience and help them speed up their journey?

It turns out the authors of a fascinating book called Accelerated Expertise: Training for High Proficency in a Complex World were asking themselves similar questions and forging their own theory about this, on behalf of the US Department of Defense. The DoD was trying to wrap its head around the changing nature of warfare. They recognised that speed in acquiring the knowledge and skills to perform tasks is crucial, “yet it ordinarily takes many years to achieve high proficiency in countless jobs and professions in government, business, industry, and throughout the private sector”. Wouldn’t there be great advantages if regimens of training could be established that could accelerate the achievement of high levels of proficiency?

Business is not warfare but the military serves as a helpful metaphor, and there is a universal applicability of the book’s core theories and ideas as they relate to the acceleration of executive proficiency. It asks questions that will sound familiar to any business executive, like:

• “How can we train for adaptivity and the need to cope with the ever-changing workplace and changing and challenging activities?”
• “How can we train for resilience in the face of increasing complexity and unexpected events stretching resources and capabilities?”

Whether you are in the military, or a startup founder, CEO, other executive or professional, there’s a theoretical underpinning that supports anyone’s journey to mastery. By understanding it, you can speed it up.