Research now shows that the lack of natural talent is irrelevant to great success. 現在研究表明，缺乏天然的人才是不相干的巨大成功。 The secret? 秘密？ Painful and demanding practice and hard work 痛苦和要求的實踐和辛勤工作
By Geoffrey Colvin 由杰弗裡colvin

What makes Tiger Woods great?是什麼使得老虎伍茲的偉大呢？ What made Berkshire Hathaway Chairman是什麼伯克希爾哈撒韋公司主席 Warren Buffett巴菲特 the world’s premier investor?世界一流的投資者？ We think we know: Each was a natural who came into the world with a gift for doing exactly what he ended up doing.我們認為我們知道：每一個是一個自然誰來到融入世界與禮物這樣做正是他結束了這樣做。 As Buffett told Fortune not long ago, he was “wired at birth to allocate capital.” It’sa one-in-a-million thing.作為巴菲特說，財富不是不久前，他是“有線在出生時分配的資本。 ”這是一個在一萬元的事。 You’ve got it - or you don’t.您有它-或你不。

Well, folks, it’s not so simple.好，鄉親，它的並非如此簡單。 For one thing, you do not possess a natural gift for a certain job, because targeted natural gifts don’t exist.為一件事，你不具備一個自然的禮物一定的就業，因為有針對性的禮物自然不存在。 (Sorry, Warren.) You are not a born CEO or investor or chess grandmaster. You will achieve greatness only through an enormous amount of hard work over many years. （對不起，華倫） 你是不是一個出生的首席執行官或投資者或國際象棋grandmaster 。你會實現偉大的，只有通過大量的辛勤工作，多年來。 And not just any hard work, but work of a particular type that’s demanding and painful.不只是任何辛勤工作，但工作的某一類型的要求和痛苦。

Buffett, for instance, is famed for his discipline and the hours he spends studying financial statements of potential investment targets.巴菲特，舉例來說，是著名的為他的紀律和時間，他花在學習的財務報表潛在的投資目標。 The good news is that your lack of a natural gift is irrelevant - talent has little or nothing to do with greatness.好消息是，你缺乏一個自然的禮物是不相干的-人才，已很少或完全沒有與偉大。 You can make yourself into any number of things, and you can even make yourself great.你可以自己到任何數量的東西，你甚至可以作出自己的偉大。

Scientific experts are producing remarkably consistent findings across a wide array of fields.科學專家正在產生顯著一致的結果，全國各式各樣的領域。 Understand that talent doesn’t mean intelligence, motivation or personality traits.明白的人才，並不意味著情報，動機或人格特質。 It’s an innate ability to do some specific activity especially well.這是一種先天的能力，做一些具體的活動，特別是良好。 British-based researchers Michael J. Howe, Jane W. Davidson and John A. Sluboda conclude in an extensive study, “The evidence we have surveyed … does not support the [notion that] excelling is a consequence of possessing innate gifts.”總部設在英國的研究人員菲利普莫里斯豪，簡瓦特戴維森和約翰答： sluboda結束在廣泛的研究， “我們有證據，調查…不支持[概念]是一個出色的後果，藏有先天的禮物” 。

To see how the researchers could reach such a conclusion, consider the problem they were trying to solve.看看如何研究人員能夠達到這樣一個結論，考慮的問題，他們正在試圖解決的問題。 In virtually every field of endeavor, most people learn quickly at first, then more slowly and then stop developing completely.在幾乎每一個領域的努力，大多數人都了解迅速在第一，然後比較慢，然後完全停止發展。 Yet a few do improve for years and even decades, and go on to greatness.然而，少數做改善，為幾年甚至幾十年來，和去上的偉大。

The irresistible question - the “fundamental challenge” for researchers in this field, says the most prominent of them, professor K. Anders Ericsson of Florida State University - is, Why?不可阻擋的問題-“根本的挑戰”為研究人員在這一領域的說，最突出的他們，教授k .安德斯愛立信的佛羅里達州立大學-是，為什麼呢？ How are certain people able to go on improving?如何某些人能夠繼續改善呢？ The answers begin with consistent observations about great performers in many fields.答案開始與一致的意見，關於偉大的表演，在許多領域。

Scientists worldwide have conducted scores of studies since the 1993 publication of a landmark paper by Ericsson and two colleagues, many focusing on sports, music and chess, in which performance is relatively easy to measure and plot over time.世界各地的科學家已進行分數的研究，自1993年出版一本具有里程碑意義的文件，由愛立信和兩位同事，很多側重於體育，音樂和象棋，在其中的表現是比較容易衡量和陰謀隨著時間的推移。 But plenty of additional studies have also examined other fields, including business.但很多額外的研究還審議了其他領域，包括商業。

No substitute for hard work 無法替代的辛勤工作

The first major conclusion is that nobody is great without work.第一項主要的結論是，沒有人是偉大的沒有工作。 It’s nice to believe that if you find the field where you’re naturally gifted, you’ll be great from day one, but it doesn’t happen.它的好，相信如果您發現該領域的您，自然資優，您的偉大從第一天開始，但它不會發生。 There’s no evidence of high-level performance without experience or practice.有沒有證據顯示高層次的表現，沒有經驗或做法。

Reinforcing that no-free-lunch finding is vast evidence that even the most accomplished people need around ten years of hard work before becoming world-class, a pattern so well established researchers call it the ten-year rule.加強，沒有免費的午餐，發現是廣大的證據，即使是最有成就的人需要大約十年的艱苦努力才成為世界一流的，一種模式，使行之有效的研究人員要求這10年的統治。

What about Bobby Fischer, who became a chess grandmaster at 16?什麼鮑比菲舍爾，誰成為國際象棋grandmaster在16呢？ Turns out the rule holds: He’d had nine years of intensive study.原來的規則認為：他要了九年的深入的研究。 And as John Horn of the University of Southern California and Hiromi Masunaga of California State University observe, “The ten-year rule represents a very rough estimate, and most researchers regard it as a minimum, not an average.” In many fields (music, literature) elite performers need 20 or 30 years’ experience before hitting their zenith.和約翰非洲之角的南加州大學和浩masunaga加州州立大學的觀察， “ 10年的統治是一個非常粗略的估計，和大多數研究人員把它當作最低，而不是一個平均水平。 ”在許多領域（音樂，文學）精英的表演需要20年或30年的經驗之前，擊中他們的頂點。

So greatness isn’t handed to anyone; it requires a lot of hard work.所以偉大，是不是交給任何人;它需要很多的辛勤工作。 Yet that isn’t enough, since many people work hard for decades without approaching greatness or even getting significantly better.然而，這是不夠的，因為很多人努力工作，幾十年來沒有接近的偉大或什至得到顯著改善。 What’s missing?有什麼缺失？

Practice makes perfect 實踐使完善

The best people in any field are those who devote the most hours to what the researchers call “deliberate practice.” It’s activity that’s explicitly intended to improve performance, that reaches for objectives just beyond one’s level of competence, provides feedback on results and involves high levels of repetition.最好的人才在任何領域，是那些誰投入最小時，以什麼研究者稱為“蓄意實踐”的活動的明確意圖以提高性能，為達到目標只是超越自己的水平的能力，提供反饋的結果，涉及高水平的重複。

For example: Simply hitting a bucket of balls is not deliberate practice, which is why most golfers don’t get better.例如：簡單地打一桶球不是故意的做法，這就是為什麼多數選手不得到更好的。 Hitting an eight-iron 300 times with a goal of leaving the ball within 20 feet of the pin 80 percent of the time, continually observing results and making appropriate adjustments, and doing that for hours every day - that’s deliberate practice.創八鐵的300倍，與一的目標，離開球20英尺的旗桿80 ％的時間，不斷地觀測結果和作出適當的調整，這樣做，幾個小時的每一天-這是蓄意的做法。

Consistency is crucial.一致性是至關重要的。 As Ericsson notes, “Elite performers in many diverse domains have been found to practice, on the average, roughly the same amount every day, including weekends.”愛立信指出， “精英的表演，在許多不同的領域，已發現的實踐，就平均而言，大致相同的金額，每一天，包括週末” 。

Evidence crosses a remarkable range of fields.證據十字架顯著一系列領域。 In a study of 20-year-old violinists by Ericsson and colleagues, the best group (judged by conservatory teachers) averaged 10,000 hours of deliberate practice over their lives; the next-best averaged 7,500 hours; and the next, 5,000.在研究20歲的小提琴是由愛立信和他的同事，最好組（判斷conservatory教師） ，平均每1萬小時蓄意的做法，對自己的生活;下一代最好的，平均每七千五小時;和明年， 5000 。 It’s the same story in surgery, insurance sales, and virtually every sport.它的相同的故事，在外科手術，保險銷售業務，和幾乎每一個運動。 More deliberate practice equals better performance.更刻意的做法，等於有更好的表現。 Tons of it equals great performance.噸，這相當於偉大的表現。

The skeptics 懷疑論者

Not all researchers are totally onboard with the myth-of-talent hypothesis, though their objections go to its edges rather than its center.並非所有的研究人員是完全板載與神話- -人才假說，雖然他們的反對去其優勢，而不是其中心。 For one thing, there are the intangibles.為一件事，有是無形資產。 Two athletes might work equally hard, but what explains the ability of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady to perform at a higher level in the last two minutes of a game? 2運動員可能的工作同樣艱難，但如何解釋的能力，新英格蘭愛國者隊四分衛湯姆布雷迪履行在更高層次上，在最後兩分鐘，一個遊戲呢？

Researchers also note, for example, child prodigies who could speak, read or play music at an unusually early age.研究人員還注意到，例如，兒童prodigies誰可以發言，閱讀或播放音樂，在一個異常的早，年齡。 But on investigation those cases generally include highly involved parents.但在調查這些案件一般包括高度所涉及的家長。 And many prodigies do not go on to greatness in their early field, while great performers include many who showed no special early aptitude.和許多prodigies不去就向偉大，在他們早日領域，而偉大的演員，其中包括許多誰表明，沒有特別的早期性向。

Certainly some important traits are partly inherited, such as physical size and particular measures of intelligence, but those influence what a person doesn’t do more than what he does; a five-footer will never be an NFL lineman, and a seven-footer will never be an Olympic gymnast.當然，一些重要性狀的部分繼承，如物理尺寸和特別措施的情報，但這些影響是什麼人並不多，他是否有什麼; 5英尺的絕不會是一個還在lineman ，和一個7英尺絕不會是一個奧運體操。 Even those restrictions are less severe than you’d expect: Ericsson notes, “Some international chess masters have IQs in the 90s.” The more research that’s done, the more solid the deliberate-practice model becomes.即使這些限制的那樣嚴重，您期望：愛立信指出， “一些國際象棋的主人，有智商在90年代” ，進行更多的研究認為的這樣做，更堅實的蓄意-實踐模式，成為。
Real-world examples真實世界的例子

All this scholarly research is simply evidence for what great performers have been showing us for years.這一切，學術研究，根本的證據是什麼偉大的演員已經向我們展示了多年。 To take a handful of examples: Winston Churchill, one of the 20th century’s greatest orators, practiced his speeches compulsively.採取極少數的例子：邱吉爾之一， 20世紀最偉大的演講者，實行他的發言compulsively 。 Vladimir Horowitz supposedly said, “If I don’t practice for a day, I know it.弗拉基米爾霍洛維茨假定說， “如果我不實踐了一天，我知道這一點。 If I don’t practice for two days, my wife knows it.如果我不實踐，為二天，我的妻子知道。 If I don’t practice for three days, the world knows it.” He was certainly a demon practicer, but the same quote has been attributed to world-class musicians like Ignace Paderewski and Luciano Pavarotti.如果我不實踐，為三天，全世界都知道它， “他肯定是一個惡魔，實踐者，但同時引述已歸因於世界級的音樂家一樣，伊尼亞斯帕德雷夫斯基和盧西亞諾帕瓦羅蒂。

Many great athletes are legendary for the brutal discipline of their practice routines.許多偉大的運動員是傳說中為殘酷的紀律，他們的實踐例程。 In basketball, Michael Jordan practiced intensely beyond the already punishing team practices.在籃球，喬丹實行的激烈超出了已經懲治團隊的做法。 (Had Jordan possessed some mammoth natural gift specifically for basketball, it seems unlikely he’d have been cut from his high school team.) （曾約旦擁有的一些龐大的天然禮品專為籃球，似乎不大可能，他要被切斷從他的高中隊） 。

In football, all-time-great receiver Jerry Rice - passed up by 15 teams because they considered him too slow - practiced so hard that other players would get sick trying to keep up.在足球，所有的時間偉大的接收機傑里米-通過了由1 5個隊，因為他們認為他過於緩慢-實行，所以很難說，其他選手將生病試圖跟上。

Tiger Woods is a textbook example of what the research shows.老虎伍茲是一本教科書，例如什麼樣的研究表明。 Because his father introduced him to golf at an extremely early age - 18 months - and encouraged him to practice intensively, Woods had racked up at least 15 years of practice by the time he became the youngest-ever winner of the US Amateur Championship, at age 18.因為他父親介紹他到高爾夫球場在一個非常早期的年齡-1 8個月內-並鼓勵他深入實踐，老虎伍茲在r a cked了至少15年的實踐時間，他成為有史以來最年輕得主美國業餘錦標賽冠軍，在18歲以下。 Also in line with the findings, he has never stopped trying to improve, devoting many hours a day to conditioning and practice, even remaking his swing twice because that’s what it took to get even better. ，也符合調查結果，他從來就沒有停止過設法改善，投入了很多時間，一天空調和實踐，甚至重塑自己的揮桿姿勢的兩倍，因為這是什麼花，以獲得更加美好。

The business side 商業方面

The evidence, scientific as well as anecdotal, seems overwhelmingly in favor of deliberate practice as the source of great performance.的證據，科學，以及傳聞，似乎是在以壓倒多數贊成蓄意實踐作為來源的偉大業績。 Just one problem: How do you practice business?只是一個問題：你如何實踐做生意呢？ Many elements of business, in fact, are directly practicable.許多要素的業務，事實上，是直接可行的。 Presenting, negotiating, delivering evaluations, deciphering financial statements - you can practice them all.介紹，談判，提供評價，破譯財務報表-您可以在實踐中他們所有。

Still, they aren’t the essence of great managerial performance.但是，它們不是本質，偉大的管理績效。 That requires making judgments and decisions with imperfect information in an uncertain environment, interacting with people, seeking information - can you practice those things too?需要作出判斷和決定，不完善的信息在一個不確定環境下，與人民的互動，尋求信息-您是否可以實踐這些東西太？ You can, though not in the way you would practice a Chopin etude.你可以，雖然不是在你的方式將實行蕭邦練習曲。

Instead, it’s all about how you do what you’re already doing - you create the practice in your work, which requires a few critical changes.相反，它的所有有關如何，你做什麼您已經這樣做-你創造的實踐在你的工作，這需要幾個關鍵的變化。 The first is going at any task with a new goal: Instead of merely trying to get it done, you aim to get better at it.首先是持續在任何任務與一個新的目標：而不是只試圖獲得這樣做，你的目標得到更好的在它。

Report writing involves finding information, analyzing it and presenting it - each an improvable skill.報告的撰寫涉及查找信息，分析和介紹了它-每一個改進的技巧。 Chairing a board meeting requires understanding the company’s strategy in the deepest way, forming a coherent view of coming market changes and setting a tone for the discussion.主持董事會會議，就要首先了解該公司的策略，在最深切的方式，形成一個連貫一致的看法未來市場的變化和訂定的調子討論。 Anything that anyone does at work, from the most basic task to the most exalted, is an improvable skill.任何人是否在工作中，從最基礎的工作，以最崇高的，是一個改進的技巧。

Adopting a new mindset 採用新思維

Armed with that mindset, people go at a job in a new way.武裝與心態，人到在工作中一條新的途徑。 Research shows they process information more deeply and retain it longer.研究表明，他們的過程中的資料，更深入和留住它更長的時間。 They want more information on what they’re doing and seek other perspectives.他們想了解更多信息對他們在做什麼，並尋求其他的觀點。 They adopt a longer-term point of view.他們採取長遠的角度來看。 In the activity itself, the mindset persists.在活動本身，心態依然存在。 You aren’t just doing the job, you’re explicitly trying to get better at it in the larger sense.你不只是做的工作，您明確試圖得到更好的在它在較大的意義。

Again, research shows that this difference in mental approach is vital.再次，研究表明，這種差異在心理的方法是至關重要的。 For example, when amateur singers take a singing lesson, they experience it as fun, a release of tension.舉例來說，當業餘歌手，以歌唱的教訓，他們的經驗，它作為樂趣，釋放緊張情緒。 But for professional singers, it’s the opposite: They increase their concentration and focus on improving their performance during the lesson.但對於專業歌手，它的相反：他們增加其濃度和著眼於提高其業績過程中的教訓。 Same activity, different mindset.同一活動，不同的心態。

Feedback is crucial, and getting it should be no problem in business.反饋意見是非常重要的，並得到它應該是沒有問題的業務。 Yet most people don’t seek it; they just wait for it, half hoping it won’t come.然而，大多數人並不尋求它;他們只是等待，一半希望它不會來。 Without it, as Goldman Sachs leadership-development chief Steve Kerr says, “it’s as if you’re bowling through a curtain that comes down to knee level.沒有它，作為高盛公司的領導，發展行政史蒂夫克爾說， “它的作為如果您保齡球透過窗簾認為，可以歸結為膝關節的水平。 If you don’t know how successful you are, two things happen: One, you don’t get any better, and two, you stop caring.” In some companies, like General Electric, frequent feedback is part of the culture.如果您不知道如何成功，你是，兩件事情發生： 1 ，您沒有獲得任何好轉， 2 ，您停止關懷。 “在一些公司，如通用電氣，頻繁的反饋意見是文化的一部分。 If you aren’t lucky enough to get that, seek it out.如果您不是有幸得到，尋求出來。

Be the ball 被球

Through the whole process, one of your goals is to build what the researchers call “mental models of your business” - pictures of how the elements fit together and influence one another.通過在整個過程中，您的目標之一是建立什麼研究人員稱之為“心智模式您的業務” -圖片要素如何配合和影響力之一。 The more you work on it, the larger your mental models will become and the better your performance will grow.越多，您的工作，較大的您的心智模式將成為和更好的表現，您將會增加。

Andy Grove could keep a model of a whole world-changing technology industry in his head and adapt Intel (Charts) as needed.安迪格羅夫可以保持模型的整個世界瞬息萬變的科技工業，在他的頭部及適應英特爾（圖）視需要。 Bill Gates, Microsoft’s (Charts) founder, had the same knack: He could see at the dawn of the PC that his goal of a computer on every desk was realistic and would create an unimaginably large market.比爾蓋茨，微軟的（圖表）的創始人，有相同的訣竅：他可以看到，在即將進入PC就是他的目標是建立一個計算機上每一個服務台是現實，並會創造一個難以想像的大市場。 John D. Rockefeller, too, saw ahead when the world-changing new industry was oil.約翰洛克菲勒，也看到了未來，當世界日新月異的新的行業是石油。 Napoleon was perhaps the greatest ever.拿破崙也許是有史以來最大的。 He could not only hold all the elements of a vast battle in his mind but, more important, could also respond quickly when they shifted in unexpected ways.他不僅可以容納所有的內容了廣闊的戰鬥在他心中，但更重要的是，也可以迅速作出反應，當他們轉向在人們意想不到的方式。

That’sa lot to focus on for the benefits of deliberate practice - and worthless without one more requirement: Do it regularly, not sporadically. that'sa很多專注於為的好處，蓄意的做法-和毫無價值，沒有多一個要求：做定期，而不是斷斷續續。

Why? 為什麼？

For most people, work is hard enough without pushing even harder.對大多數人來說，工作是努力不夠，沒有推更難。 Those extra steps are so difficult and painful they almost never get done.這些額外的步驟是如此困難和痛苦，他們幾乎從來沒有得到這樣做。 That’s the way it must be.這就是它必須。 If great performance were easy, it wouldn’t be rare.如果偉大的表現很容易，也不會罕見。 Which leads to possibly the deepest question about greatness.從而導致可能是最深切的問題的偉大。 While experts understand an enormous amount about the behavior that produces great performance, they understand very little about where that behavior comes from.同時，專家們了解了大量有關的行為產生很大的表現，他們了解甚少，如果行為從何而來。

The authors of one study conclude, “We still do not know which factors encourage individuals to engage in deliberate practice.” Or as University of Michigan business school professor Noel Tichy puts it after 30 years of working with managers, “Some people are much more motivated than others, and that’s the existential question I cannot answer - why.”作者之一，研究的結論， “我們仍然不知道其中的因素，鼓勵個人從事蓄意實踐” ，或者作為美國密歇根大學商學院教授諾埃爾tichy把它經過30年的工作，與經理， “有些人更動機比其他人，這就是生存的問題我不能回答-為什麼“ 。

The critical reality is that we are not hostage to some naturally granted level of talent.關鍵的現實是，我們不是人質，一些自然給予水平的人才。 We can make ourselves what we will.我們可以使自己有什麼，我們會。 Strangely, that idea is not popular.奇怪的是，這種想法是不是受歡迎。 People hate abandoning the notion that they would coast to fame and riches if they found their talent.人民的仇恨，放棄概念，他們將海岸，以淡泊名利，財富，如果他們發現他們的人才。 But that view is tragically constraining, because when they hit life’s inevitable bumps in the road, they conclude that they just aren’t gifted and give up.但這種看法是可悲的制約，因為當他們擊中的生活是不可避免的顛簸在道路上，他們的結論是，他們只是沒有天才和放棄。

Maybe we can’t expect most people to achieve greatness.也許我們不能指望大多數人實現偉大。 It’s just too demanding.這只是過於嚴苛。 But the striking, liberating news is that greatness isn’t reserved for a preordained few.但引人注目的，解放的消息是偉大，是不是預留作欽點數。 It is available to you and to everyone.這是提供給您和每一個人。