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When I played high school tennis, my coach told me that it took 10,000 perfect
practice serves (and volleys, and backhands, and lobs, etc.) before one had a
reliable match pressure serve. The world's greatest free-throw shooter
practices 1000 free throws every day. He suggests that all basketball players
need to practice 500 free throws a day if they want to reliably make the
critical 2 at the end of the game.

Obviously, the complexity of the task is a factor, but would you want your heart
surgeon to have only completed 21 surgeries before she did yours? Or how about
your tax preparer?

Practice doesn't make perfect....(lots of) perfect practice makes perfect.

Rhonda K. Reger
Management & Organization Department
Robert H. Smith College of Business
University of Maryland
3337 Van Munching Hall
College Park, MD 20742-1815
phone: 301-405-2167
fax: 301-314-8787
e-mail: rreger@rhsmith.umd.edu

Dear Colleagues, Rhonda Reger's comment, as well as previous commentaries
points out the amount of practice and effort one must put into any endeavor
to achieve mastery. Where I depart from some is that I tell my students
that "practice maks permanent, but not necessarily perfect." Lots of us
have been practicing "bad" habits for many years. So much so, that it is
now hard to become better at certain tasks because the "bad" habits are so
well engrained.

The importance of coaches, trainers, teachers early on is that they can
help us avoid learning bad habits, by providing better models for us to
practice as well as corrective feedback as we inch our way to mastery.

In class, when I am dealing with students who may not be putting forth the
effort I think is required, I often ask if anyone is currently involved in
competitive athletics. When I find someone, I ask how many hours a week
they devote to their sport, and for how many years they have been involved
in their sport. Usually, it will be between 10-20 hours. Then, I ask the
class, if it takes 10-20 hours per week for X number of years to become a
good competitive athlete, how many hours a week for how many years will it
take for them to become a world class manager. Sometimes they get my
point, and stop complaining about the amount of work they have to do in my
class.

Regards, Kim Boal


At 10:04 PM 2/10/99 -0500, you wrote:
>When I played high school tennis, my coach told me that it took 10,000
perfect
>practice serves (and volleys, and backhands, and lobs, etc.) before one had a
>reliable match pressure serve. The world's greatest free-throw shooter
>practices 1000 free throws every day. He suggests that all basketball
players
>need to practice 500 free throws a day if they want to reliably make the
>critical 2 at the end of the game.
>
>Obviously, the complexity of the task is a factor, but would you want your
heart
>surgeon to have only completed 21 surgeries before she did yours? Or how
about
>your tax preparer?
>
>Practice doesn't make perfect....(lots of) perfect practice makes perfect.
>
>Rhonda K. Reger
>Management & Organization Department
>Robert H. Smith College of Business
>University of Maryland
>3337 Van Munching Hall
>College Park, MD 20742-1815
>phone: 301-405-2167
>fax: 301-314-8787
>e-mail: rreger@rhsmith.umd.edu
>
--------------------------------
Kim Boal
College of Business Administration
Texas Tech University
Lubbock, TX 79409
(806) 742-2150
KimBoal@ttu.edu

I agree wholeheartedly with Prof. Boal's comments. I see the same
problem in my work with CPAs, to whom I teach occasional courses in
business valuation for the American Institute of CPAs. My profession is
so hung up on efficiency that it's forgotten the truth of Kim's comments
about it being difficult "to become better at certain tasks because the
'bad' habits are so well-engrained." I also see it w/consulting clients
in companies that have been in business for long periods. This is the
old effectiveness vs. efficiency question.

If I'm not mistaken, many years ago Peter Drucker (I think it was he,
but I welcome corrections) gave us a superb delineation between the two:

Efficiency is doing things right, effectiveness is doing the right
thing.

Too many times, especially in today's hypercompetitive world, people are
doing the wrong thing very, very well, indeed. Efficiency is also
easier to achieve than effectiveness because it's non-threatening.

Until it's too late, and change runs over efficiency like a steamroller.

Best regards,

Warren Miller

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* Warren D. Miller, MBA, CPA-ABV, CMA *
* Beckmill Research/Lexington, Va. *
* "Research Orientation, Results Mentality" *
* 540.463.6200 (v); 540.463.6208 (f) *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Kim,

I very much enjoyed this post. As always, your posts are pithy and
eloquent (as in eloquent models).

Thank you for sharing your views on this. It has helped put
perspective on some issues I am tackly right now.

My compliments and best wishes for future success.

Ed
Drive On!

>>> Kim Boal <odkbb@TTACS.TTU.EDU> 02/11 9:32 AM >>>
Dear Colleagues, Rhonda Reger's comment, as well as previous
commentaries
points out the amount of practice and effort one must put into any
endeavor
to achieve mastery. Where I depart from some is that I tell my
students
that "practice maks permanent, but not necessarily perfect." Lots of
us
have been practicing "bad" habits for many years. So much so, that it
is
now hard to become better at certain tasks because the "bad" habits are
so
well engrained.

The importance of coaches, trainers, teachers early on is that they
can
help us avoid learning bad habits, by providing better models for us
to
practice as well as corrective feedback as we inch our way to mastery.

In class, when I am dealing with students who may not be putting forth
the
effort I think is required, I often ask if anyone is currently involved
in
competitive athletics. When I find someone, I ask how many hours a
week
they devote to their sport, and for how many years they have been
involved
in their sport. Usually, it will be between 10-20 hours. Then, I ask
the
class, if it takes 10-20 hours per week for X number of years to become
a
good competitive athlete, how many hours a week for how many years will
it
take for them to become a world class manager. Sometimes they get my
point, and stop complaining about the amount of work they have to do in
my
class.

Regards, Kim Boal


At 10:04 PM 2/10/99 -0500, you wrote:
>When I played high school tennis, my coach told me that it took
10,000
perfect
>practice serves (and volleys, and backhands, and lobs, etc.) before
one had a
>reliable match pressure serve. The world's greatest free-throw
shooter
>practices 1000 free throws every day. He suggests that all
basketball
players
>need to practice 500 free throws a day if they want to reliably make
the
>critical 2 at the end of the game.
>
>Obviously, the complexity of the task is a factor, but would you want
your
heart
>surgeon to have only completed 21 surgeries before she did yours? Or
how
about
>your tax preparer?
>
>Practice doesn't make perfect....(lots of) perfect practice makes
perfect.
>
>Rhonda K. Reger
>Management & Organization Department
>Robert H. Smith College of Business
>University of Maryland
>3337 Van Munching Hall
>College Park, MD 20742-1815
>phone: 301-405-2167
>fax: 301-314-8787
>e-mail: rreger@rhsmith.umd.edu
>
--------------------------------
Kim Boal
College of Business Administration
Texas Tech University
Lubbock, TX 79409
(806) 742-2150
KimBoal@ttu.edu