“Want to get really great at something? Get a coach,” is the title of Atul Gawande’s TED2017 Talk, during which he ponders, “How do professionals get better at what they do? How do they get great?”
He starts by discussing the traditional view: “…you go to school, you study, you practice, you learn, you graduate, and then you go out into the world and make your way on your own.”
And then the other view, taken from sports: “you are never done, everybody needs a coach. Everyone. The greatest in the world needs a coach.”
Itzhak Perlman, the world-famous violinist, conductor, and music teacher, had a coach. His wife Toby gave up her job as a concert violinist to coach him, making suggestions for what he could try differently next time. Yes, even Itzhak Perlman had a coach.
Gawande points out, “there are numerous problems in making it on your own [the traditional view]. You don’t recognize the issues that are standing in your way, or if you do, you don’t necessarily know how to fix them. And the result is that somewhere along the way, you stop improving.” He realized that was what had happened to him as a surgeon, and he considered, “Is this as good as I’m going to get?”
So, you guessed it; he got a coach.
His coach observed him and pointed out several small things that mattered, but more importantly, his coach brought a whole other level of awareness. Gawande states, “[Coaches] are your external eyes and ears, providing a more accurate picture of your reality. They’re recognizing the fundamentals. They’re breaking your actions down and then helping you build them back up again. After two months of coaching, I felt myself getting better again. And after a year, I saw my complications drop down even further. It was painful. I didn’t like being observed, and at times I didn’t want to have to work on things. I also felt there were periods where I would get worse before I got better. But it made me realize that the coaches were onto something profoundly important.”
If you want to get really great at something, get a coach.
