Book: Practice Perfect: 42 Rules for Getting Better at Getting Better by Doug Lemov. Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.

A good book with lots of advice. The structure is not so good, but it’s OK.

As the title says, it shows 42 rules to improve yourself and practice in the right way. It an introduction, 42 tips on how to get better at getting better, a conclusion, and the appendices. The structure looks like a to-do list of “rules”, so it’s not so comfortable to read.

The book was made for teachers and then changed to a general-purpose. You still feel many of the examples related to education, but this is not a bad thing IMO. The appendices are really great, I found many of my teachers’ techniques there.

Here are my raw notes about the book:

  • Practice doesn’t make perfect, it makes it permanent. If you’re doing something wrong you will just good at doing something in the wrong way
  • To practice is not saying you’re bad in what you do, but you can be better in it
  • Plan everything before practicing. Use every minute in the right way.
  • What looks like talent is actually a lot of right practice
  • To improve their answers to students, two teachers practice students’ questions for 10 minutes each day for some weeks. Practicing the right thing.
  • There are countries where people are better at sports, but they had a good coach since the beginning and have been practicing it since forever.
  • If errors are persistent in your training, reduce them to make it simple. You want the participants to complete the fastest possible light version of your training in the right way and then you can increase the complexity
  • Practice the 20% (Pareto)
  • Plan before doing. Find your 20% and plan on practicing it.
  • You don’t have to be aware of your knowledge to use it. You learn by doing, even if you don’t remember it
  • Automate skills to unlock creativity. When you know how to do a task without thinking about it (just like system 1 of Thinking, Fast and Slow) you have time to think creatively about what to do differently.
  • Replace the vague idea of purpose with a managed and direct goal. Instead of “be a good basketball player”, go for “Score 70% of my three-point shots in a match”.
  • Find and train areas of talent and areas of weakness. Doing that in-group is even better, as one person weakness may be the other’s talent
  • Focus on correcting errors, not critique
  • Isolate the skills. Practice in chunks
  • Name it. Define names for the important skills and guarantee everyone is on the same page
  • Matching skills. Make your practice environment similar to the game field. Practice like you are in the game, with the same conditions.
  • Make a plan, plan to the last minute, video tape and watch your practicing sessions
  • Before modeling (or teaching) tell them what to look for. When you’re explaining something, students will better understand what you’re trying to say.
  • Make models believable. Model in the context of the students
  • When creating a model for someone you’re coaching, show them what you made to get to this point, not just the instructions you are using.
  • Feedback is great, use it and give some.
  • Apply the feedback first, then reflect about it
  • If you want to change behavior, shorten the feedback loop. Give feedback sooner
  • Give feedback right away, even if it’s imperfect. The speed of consequence beats the strength of consequence almost every time.
  • A simple change implemented right away is simpler than rewiring the steel
  • If you really care about something, you give it constructive feedback. If you don’t care about something, you give it only positive feedback
  • Ask people to summarize your feedback, so you know they understood what you mean
  • Normalize error. Don’t punish people for their mistakes, it will create a culture of extreme caution or fear.
  • Failure is normal, not an indication of the lack of skill
  • Failure rate and level of skills are Independent variables
  • Expose your weakness to your peers so they can help you improve
  • Challenge people to do things and make mistakes, then correct them before they become too ingrained
  • Practice should not be punishment, make it fun
  • Just coach during the game, don’t teach. Use small signals instead of full lessons
  • As a leader, state feedback not just as advice but as something needed for progress
  • Collect data on specific skills to work on. e.g. how much a sales strategy resulted in success
  • Look for how great people on your field practice in environments similar to yours