Not Always a Linear Response

I learned some interesting things last night.

Both made things far more clear than they previously were. Then I slept on them and things became even clearer.

The one I’ll share is in regard to experience and performance. I read an article in Time about the subject. It was being brought up because of the presidential race. McCain’s huge amount of experience, Hillary’s made up experience, and Obama’s lack of experience (even though it’s on par with Lincoln, one of the best president’s ever).

This article was a general discussion of experience, what makes and expert, and does experience and expertise make for better performance.

The general rule is that it takes you ten years in a field to become an “expert” in that field. However, once you’ve become an expert, you need to continually challenge yourself in your field, or you’ll become stagnant and people with less experience will tend to perform as well or better than you. When presented with a problem that stretches the skill set and knowledge of a person in a field, they are generally on a level playing field regardless of experience level.

People who far outperform others in their field tend to always challenge themselves. They put themselves in uncomfortable situations rather than doing or practicing the things they are good at. They become frustrated, but get through it with a larger skill set.

This made me think of my adult hockey league carrier. I’ve been playing for about 4 years now. I’m no expert, but if I ever want to get better I can’t stay in C-League. It’s just stifling me. I need to be one of the worst players in B-League for a while to learn. I need to be uncomfortable for a while.

OK, I didn't like Panic! at the Disco, but I kind of dig this new song. I have a soft spot for poppy emo music. Must be because they dropped the !