I was in a meeting once where someone said, "We need a documented process for ...". It doesn't matter what process they wanted documented, what's important is that I think I picked up on another lullaby word. If you're not familiar with lullaby language, Weinberg talks about it here, but I originally read about it in one of his many books (I've read so many I truly have a hard time remembering which lessons came from which).



I don't know why I happened to pick up on it during this meeting, but right after it was said I caught myself thinking:

Why use the word "documented" when we talk about process? We don't need a documented process, we need a process! I don't care if the process is documented and we still don't follow it. I just care about a process that works. I guess the underlying assumption here is that documenting the process makes it more likely to happen?

I'm sure documenting the process is a good thing. I just found it funny that we were talking about documenting it before we even knew what it was...

To build on the idea of effortful study, I found the following in this month's FastCompany in the article The Expert on Experts: An expert guide to expertise by Christopher Percy Collier.



Some excerpts of an interview with K. Anders Ericsson, Professor of Psychology, Florida State University:

"With the exception of some sports, no characteristic of the brain or body constrains an individual from reaching an expert level."

"Elite performers engage in what we call 'deliberate practice'--an effortful activity designed to improve individual target performance. There has to be some way they're innovating in the way they do things."

"In general, elite performers utilize some technique that typically isn't well known or widely practiced."

"You have to seek out situations where you get feedback."

The article references The Cambridge Handbook of Expertise and Expert Performance. Amazon has indicated that it would be happy to ship said book to my house. It's big, so give me time for a full report.