Streamline Training & Documentation: Motivation to Practice, Practice, Practice

Sunday, June 18, 2006

Motivation to Practice, Practice, Practice

In the previous post in this series, I talked about Anders Ericsson's research indicating that "the development of expert performance will be primarily limited by the quality of the training environment and individuals' engagement in deliberate practice."

A direct implication of Ericsson's research is that motivation to master a skill, if it leads a person to practice in focused fashion (i.e., with clear goals, immediate feedback, and conscious attention to technique) can be more important than innate talent in achieving mastery of skills like golfing, piloting an aircraft, teaming with others to assemble a car, etc.

Now, prompted by a June 15 article in the New York Times, I find myself wanting to look at just where the motivation to practice, practice, practice might come from. Do genes explain a significant part in determining how motivated you are to devote energy to a particular activity?

The latest research on genes that influence personality and behavioral traits suggests that the answer is yes. The Times article focuses on issues like novelty seeking, taste for risk, obesity, addiction, and attention deficit disorder, all of which, except for obesity, can have a direct bearing on an individual's performance in the business world. (Obesity can be a relevant factor in a limited number of occupations, such as professional ballet.)

There are certainly no definitive answers concerning how genetic background limits individual personality and behavioral traits, and there probably won't be any time soon. And certainly no researchers are saying that genes absolutely determine such traits, since there is extensive evidence that genetic predispositions interact with environmental influences.

For the moment, I am left to conclude that what I call "critical caring" — motivation to tackle a job whole-heartedly and work steadily at getting better — may very well have a strong genetic component. Still, what ultimately matters, regardless of how large a role genes play, is whatever the person in question has matched what they are highly motivated to do to their choice of occupation.

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Labels: Motivation

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