Coyles The Talent Code Draft

Coyles The Talent Code Draft

Coyles first chapter of his work The sweet spot presents his conclusions on expertise
achievement and talent acquisition after having explored the way nine different talent
hotbeds around the world operate in order to improve their students performances.
Contrary to the traditional belief that talented people were born and not made Coyles
main argument claims that talent is something achievable by means of specific training
programs and more precisely a particular practice which he christens Deep Practice.

!n short deep practice consists in trying to reach a goal "ust beyond our skills which
would force us to operate at the edge of our abilities. !t is based on the idea that
struggling in certain targeted ways operating at the edge of your ability, where you
make mistakes makes you smarter.
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$ccording to this theory the efficiency in our learning efforts depends on finding and
being aware of our sweet spot which %obert &"ork the Chair of psychology at 'C($
defines as the optimal gap between what you know and what youre trying to do
2
. !t is
crucial to perform in that middle area that borders our comfort )one with the yet
unknown or unmastered since it is there where the learning process takes place. *oving
in our comfort )one wouldnt increase our level of knowledge whereas trashing blindly
towards a goal laying far away from our current capabilities would represent a senseless
struggle which would decrease our motivation and self+confidence.
This method requires analy)ing the technique we want to acquire into its main
components and performing them meticulously repeatedly with an intense grade of
focused concentration until we get familiar with it and can perform it somehow
naturally or spontaneously. Experiences where youre forced to slow down, make
errors, and correct themend up making you swift and grateful without your realiing
it.
,
-truggling and accepting our errors as learning opportunities are the engines that
push us forward our learning goals.
$nother important aspect of Coyles approach is that deep practice efficiency is quite
independent from both the field of knowledge and the social conditions where it is used.
To support this argument Coyle introduces us the examples of &runnio a ## year old
&ra)ilian footballer
.
/ 0ennie a 1. years old singer
2
/ -imon Clifford a football trainer
who introduced futsal in 3ngland to improve &ritish footballers skills
4
/ and 3dwin
(inks flying trainer
5
. These are examples on how people at any place no matter how
skilled and talented they are can improve their way of performing "ust by means of
practicing deeper.
(imits of Coyles approach
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Code Daniel. The Talent Code 6ew 7ork8 &antam 199: page #;
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.
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!saac %ubio
Coyles The Talent Code Draft
! am not quite sure about the transferability of this method to any field of knowledge. !
believe practicing deeper as Coyle suggests might offer good results in areas where
improving means mastering certain techniques which are easy to extract and decompose
in their main components.
<owever ! really doubt deep practice can work out in complex fields of knowledge
such as improving our communication skills in a =oreign language in which several
skills and factors interact and have an influence on each other. !n these cases context
play an essential role and the learning contents can not "ust be abstracted sequenced and
trained separately. -ocial background cultural context and emotional features are
decisive aspects which interfere in communication and can dubiously be extracted and
drilled.
!nteresting aspects
Coyles theory agrees in many aspects with a constructivist learning approach which !
consider specially relevant when thinking about how acquiring knowledge takes place.
There are three ideas in the proposal introduced in this first chapter which ! find
specially useful and therefore ! would like to highlight8
#.+ The need to set achievable goals and sequence our learning process taking into
account our current knowledge and previous experiences. Coyle follows the
constructivist learning approach when he stresses
1.+ One learns by means of practicing. $lthough stopping concentrating and thinking
are necessary learning needs practicing and performing to take place. *aking mistakes
and the experience of our current limitations are therefore two aspects we must learn to
deal emotionally with in order to keep our motivation and self+confidence.
,.+ Making mistakes in a process of targeted struggle is meaningful. *istakes allow
us to assess our learning process and they represent therefore an opportunity to improve
the way we perform.
!saac %ubio