
Let's stop pretending that hard work conquers all - Psychology - Salon.com - cycojesus
http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/feature/2010/09/15/gene_lyons_talent_effort/index.html
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cwb
Orszag is referring to deliberate practice
([http://projects.ict.usc.edu/itw/gel/EricssonDeliberatePracti...](http://projects.ict.usc.edu/itw/gel/EricssonDeliberatePracticePR93.pdf))
and it's not hard _work_ , but "hard" _practice_ that makes people better.
What that _practice_ should entail is not always obvious though and people
will benefit from good tutors and starting early in life. Thus, the author is
right that not everyone could become Mozart (or whatever), but that's because
they weren't in the right place at the right time, not because of genetics
(which I read him as implying, but I may be wrong). Genetics do of course
matter (in particular in sports), but the research on deliberate practice
seems to indicate they matter less than one might think.

Importantly, for things that are less competitive than world-class sports and
music (most jobs say), even moderate amounts of deliberate practice are likely
to have significant benefits. So, hard work may not conquer all, but
deliberate practice will give things a run for their money at least.

