Another aspect of the book’s goodness is it’s unique take on the subject of expertise. The underlying thread that ties the book together is microscopic physically but has a heft that belies its size. Coyle introduces us to brain science and the discovery of myelin and the role it plays in how the brain processes signals. In a nutshell, myelin is an insulator that allows neurons to fire more efficiently with better timing, allowing signals to be sent either faster or slower, depending on what’s needed. And myelin is grown through focused effort. You know that feeling when you’re totally focused on something and trying to figure it out? You might feel confused and even frustrated, but you persist, you break the task down into its component parts and do those until you get it, then you put the parts together. You’re building myelin around the neurons needed to perform that task.
Turns out that myelin, part of what scientists call white matter in the brain is much more important to brain function than anyone thought. Einstein’s brain had a significantly larger proportion of myelin to neurons than other brains. The number of neurons were the same, but Einstein’s brain had a lot more myelin (Diamond, et al, 1988). Myelin is one of the common denominators of high ability in any field, and it’s the struggle to understand or to do that creates it.
Coyle breaks the book into 3 parts. Part I: Deep Practice gives an overview of what kind of practice seems to build myelin and gives examples from sources as diverse as skateboarders, the Bronte sisters, and Renaissance artists. Coyle’s term Deep Practice is in most ways similar to Ericsson’s Deliberate Practice and my own notion of Intentional Practice. He culls three rules of Deep Practice:
1. Chunk it up: Basically this consists of breaking things into pieces that are more easily done or thought about. It also includes listening to and/or absorbing the whole before breaking the skill down and includes changing the material to make it easier, for example, slowing down a difficult musical passage.
2. Repeat it. This is pretty self-explanatory, but also not as simple as it sounds.
3. Learn to Feel it. This includes sensing (and remembering!) how something feels when it is done right, but also developing awareness of how it feels to struggle.
Part II: Ignition handles some of the general information about motivation and inspiration. Coyle calls this ignition and points to circumstances that help to motivate people to strive for greatness. He gives many examples from sport. He also cites some important research that indicates attitude prior to starting a task (in this case, music) has a significant impact on how good you get. Also a factor in his observations was that the more gritty and spare the surroundings, the more it can inspire one towards greatness. Places soft and warm and inviting don’t inspire the “hungriness” that a rougher setting might.
Part III: Master Coaching is all about how teachers, coaches, and mentors approach the task of nurturing and helping their tutors to grow “talent” (aka myelin, in Coyle’s belief). He is quick to point out (and correct) that coaching/teaching/mentoring is a skill in itself that takes a long time to build and he presents some fantastic examples of coaches, music teachers, and school teachers who have put in many thousands of hours of deep practice as teachers
http://intentionalpractice.wordpress.com/2009/05/11/book-review-the-talent-code/
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