How do you get to Carnegie Hall?

I’ve just read Practice Made Perfect by Roberto Moretti (published by Robert Salomone, 2009).

There’s a lot in this deceptively slim volume. It takes the familiar model of unconscious incompetence (we don’t know what we don’t know) to conscious incompetence (we know what we don’t know) to conscious competence (we can now do it, if we think about it) to unconscious competence (we can do it without thinking), and weaves a new thread through it.

Moretti’s five processes for efficient practice are practical steps to follow to move through the competence model, and as such are invaluable for those managing work-based learning, or anyone who wants to learn a new skill. They’re also a useful antidote to those who perceive e-learning as being simply about information transfer, as they explain what learning for work is really about – applying knowledge and developing your skills.

The five processes are:

Identification – where the learner clarifies what it is they are going to practice.
Isolation – where the learner focuses on an element small enough to practice to perfection
Reinforcement – where the learner repeatedly practices to get it right
Integration – where the learner links each practiced element of skill to another to accomplish more complex, or higher level, skills
Escalation – where the learner builds on the new skill to begin to tackle new skills

There’s a lot more in the book, which I’m pleased to recommend.