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Practice
doesn't make perfect, but it comes fairly close
We are not all blessed with the
brains, beauty, luck, and capital that we associate with
highly successful business people or entrepreneurs.
Although most new business ventures fail, a few prosper and
grow rapidly. An article from the Strategic
Entrepreneurship Journal demystifies this game of
success, and shows that exceptional performance is not
necessarily the direct result of special talent, experience,
or sheer luck.
Instead, it derives from engaging in sustained, intense, and
deliberate practice in a particular area of expertise, in
order to improve performance and cognitive thinking
levels. Lead author Dr. Robert A. Baron says, "The
same principles that apply to starting a new venture,
such as self-regulatory mechanisms, and delaying
gratification for a more long-term goal, apply to the
process of getting in shape athletically. Through a
sustained, intense effort someone can build the strength of
their body or their business."
The authors show that across many fields of expertise most
people work only "hard enough" to achieve a level of
performance that is deemed "acceptable" by themselves and
others, with no further gains. Through the principle of
deliberate practice most anyone, the authors claim, can rise
above this plateau to true excellence.
Entrepreneurs can acquire new capacities that can assist
them in starting or running a new venture, or allow them to
adapt to unforeseen circumstances, such as a drop in the
economy, or PR crisis. These capacities include an ability
to zero in on the most important information in a given
situation, and more easily access valuable information
stored in the long-term memory, or by increasing the
capacity of short-term working memory. These factors also
help secure a positive outcome: preparation, repetition,
self-observation, self-reflection, and continuous feedback
on results. These efforts lead to a healthy self-efficacy,
or an individual's confidence in their ability and what is
known as mature intuition.
Fortunately, the authors point out, the enhanced cognitive
capacities that contribute to expertise in one domain can
transfer to another. Therefore, entrepreneurs who have
acquired the capacity to perform at expert levels in sports,
music, art, or science, can transfer these skills and
capacities to their business goals. Baron explains, "Our
study shows that most successes belong not to those who
are gifted, experienced, or lucky—but rather to those who
are willing to work hard, long, and diligently to attain
it. It's not that talent, luck, or experience is
irrelevant, but the impact of those things can be
overshadowed by hard work."
"How entrepreneurs acquire the
capacity to excel: insights from research on expert
performance." Robert A. Baron; Rebecca A. Henry.
Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal (DOI:
10.1002/sej.82).
Wiley-Blackwell 29032010
Concise
Encyclopedia
Also of interest:
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