HBR’s 10 Must Reads on High Performance (with bonus article "The Right Way to Form New Habits” An interview with James Clear)

The Making of an Expert

by K. Anders Ericsson, Michael J. Prietula, and Edward T. Cokely

THIRTY YEARS AGO, two Hungarian educators, László and Klara Polgár, decided to challenge the popular assumption that women don’t succeed in areas requiring spatial thinking, such as chess. They wanted to make a point about the power of education. The Polgárs homeschooled their three daughters, and as part of their education the girls started playing chess with their parents at a very young age. Their systematic training and daily practice paid off. By 2000, all three daughters had been ranked in the top ten female players in the world. The youngest, Judit, had become a grand master at age 15, breaking the previous record for the youngest person to earn ...