“This is an empowering, encouraging work that will challenge readers to reach for excellence.”
- Publishers Weekly
“Remarkable . . . Who among us doesn't want to learn how to get better at life?”
- Stephen J. Dubner, bestselling author of Freakanomics
The world's reigning expert on expertise -- K. Anders Ericsson, Ph.D. -- and world-renowned science and technology writer -- Robert Pool, Ph.D. -- team up to present a powerful new approach to mastering almost any skill.
Have you ever wanted to learn a language or pick up an instrument, only to become daunted by the task at hand? Expert performance guru Anders Ericsson has made a career studying chess champions, violin virtuosos, star athletes, and memory mavens. Peak, the first collaboration between Ericsson and Pool, condenses three decades of original research to introduce an incredibly powerful approach to learning that is fundamentally different from the way people traditionally think about acquiring a skill.
Ericsson’s findings have been lauded and debated but never properly explained. The idea of expertise still intimidates us — we believe we need innate talent to excel, or think excelling seems prohibitively difficult.
Peak belies both of these notions, proving that almost all of us have the seeds of excellence within us — it’s just a question of nurturing them by reducing expertise to a discrete series of attainable practices. Peak offers invaluable, often counterintuitive, advice on setting goals, getting feedback, identifying patterns, and motivating yourself. Whether you want to stand out at work, or help your child achieve academic goals, Ericsson’s revolutionary methods will show you how to master nearly anything.
Eamon Dolan/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 336pp. Publication Date: April 5, 2016.
Have you ever wanted to learn a language or pick up an instrument, only to become daunted by the task at hand? Expert performance guru Anders Ericsson has made a career studying chess champions, violin virtuosos, star athletes, and memory mavens. Peak, the first collaboration between Ericsson and Pool, condenses three decades of original research to introduce an incredibly powerful approach to learning that is fundamentally different from the way people traditionally think about acquiring a skill.
Ericsson’s findings have been lauded and debated but never properly explained. The idea of expertise still intimidates us — we believe we need innate talent to excel, or think excelling seems prohibitively difficult.
Peak belies both of these notions, proving that almost all of us have the seeds of excellence within us — it’s just a question of nurturing them by reducing expertise to a discrete series of attainable practices. Peak offers invaluable, often counterintuitive, advice on setting goals, getting feedback, identifying patterns, and motivating yourself. Whether you want to stand out at work, or help your child achieve academic goals, Ericsson’s revolutionary methods will show you how to master nearly anything.
Eamon Dolan/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 336pp. Publication Date: April 5, 2016.
More Blurbs and Review Excerpts
“This book is a breakthrough, a lyrical, powerful, science-based narrative that actually shows us how to get better (much better) at the things we care about.”
–Seth Godin, author of Linchpin
“Most ‘important’ books aren’t much fun to read. Most fun books aren’t very important. But with Peak, Anders Ericsson (with great work from Robert Pool) has hit the daily double. After all, who among us doesn’t want to learn how to get better at life? A remarkable distillation of a remarkable lifetime of work.”
–Stephen J. Dubner, co-author of Freakonomics and Superfreakonomics
“Ericsson’s research has revolutionized how we think about human achievement. He has found that what separates the best of us from the rest is not innate talent but simply the right kind of training and practice. If everyone would take the lessons of this book to heart, it could truly change the world.”
–Joshua Foer, author of Moonwalking with Einstein
“[Ericsson] makes a strong case that success in today's world requires a focus on practical performance, not just the accumulation of information. Especially informative for parents and educators in preparing children for the challenges ahead.”
–Kirkus Reviews
“Conventional wisdom conveys we have to make do with what we’re born with, but, as Ericsson and Pool prove here, we all have the potential to be truly extraordinary if we apply the principles of deliberate practice. Learn how in this amazing guide!”
–Marshall Goldsmith, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Triggers
“The science of excellence can be divided into two eras: before Ericsson and after Ericsson. His groundbreaking work, captured in this brilliantly useful book, provides us with a blueprint for achieving the most important and life-changing work possible: to become a little bit better each day.”
–Dan Coyle, author of The Talent Code
“Wonderful. I can’t think of a better book for a popular audience written on any topic in psychology.”
–Daniel Willigham, professor of Psychology at University of Virginia and author of Why Don't Students Like School
“[Peak] is absolutely fantastic! [Ericsson's] collaboration with [Pool] was GENIUS! - because the result is an extremely readable, easy to understand piece of work that will change people's lives for the better.”
–Bob Fisher, free throw record holder described in Peak
About the Authors
K. ANDERS ERICSSON, Ph.D., is the world's reigning expert on expertise, a Conradi Eminent Scholar, and professor of psychology at Florida State University. He studies expert performance in domains such as music, chess, medicine, and sports. His groundbreaking work has been widely cited in major newspapers, magazines, and such bestsellers as Moonwalking with Einstein, Outliers, and How Children Succeed. His research was the inspiration for the popular "10,000-hour rule," and he has worked with major international organizations, medical schools, military groups, and professional sports teams. He lives in Florida.
(Photograph ©Magnus Bergström) 
ROBERT POOL, Ph.D., combined his history, physics, and mathematics degrees with his love of writing to successfully transition from mathematics professor to renowned science and technology writer. He has worked at some of the world’s most prestigious science publications, including Science and Nature, and his work has appeared in many others, including Discover and Technology Review. He has written three previous books -- including Eve’s Rib: Searching for the Biological Roots of Sex Differences and Beyond Engineering: How Society Shapes Technology -- and provides writing and consulting services to such groups as the National Academies of Science. He resides in Florida.
(Photograph ©Deanne Laura Pool) |
PEAKDELIBERATEPRACTICE.COM
A major website devoted to all aspects of deliberate practice, with detailed advice about ways to improve in various areas, reporting on advances in the field, interviews with expert performers, personal stories of individuals who have successfully applied deliberate practice in their own lives, videos, and more. Watch for the launch of peakdeliberatepractice.com. |