Episode 8: Bounce

by Liz

June 2019 – Join Centerpoint Legacy Theatre’s Production Manager Krista Davies and me as we discuss how much the assertions in Bounce: the Myth of Talent and the Power of Practice by Matthew Syed transfer to the subjective art of theatre and acting.


“We deny that differences [in talent] are immutable; that is, due to innate talent. Instead we argue that the differences between expert performers and normal adults reflect a life-long persistence of deliberate effort to improve performance..”

― Anders Ericsson


SHOW NOTES:

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Special Guest: Krista Davies is a Producer at Centerpoint Legacy Theatre and the General Manager at The MT Pit, The World’s premiere Broadway backing track library.

The basic premise of “Bounce” is summed up by this quote from psychologist and researcher Anders Ericsson, “We deny that differences [in talent] are immutable; that is, due to innate talent. Instead we argue that the differences between expert performers and normal adults reflect a life-long persistence of deliberate effort to improve performance.”

Other key points:

  • “When we witness extraordinary feats…we are witnessing the end product of a process measured in years…we are laboring under the illusion that expertise is reserved for special people with special talents, inaccessible to the rest of us.” Matthew Syed
  • “The most important ingredient in any expert system is knowledge. Programs that are rich in general inference methods…but poor in domain-specific knowledge can behave expertly on almost no tasks.” Bruce Buchanan, Randall, Davis, Edward Feigenbaum
  • “Expert practice is different. It entails considerable, specific, and sustained efforts to do something you can’t do well–or even at all. Research across domains shows that it is only by working at what you can’t do that you turn into the expert you want to become.” Anders Ericsson
  • “World-class performance comes by striving for a target just out of reach, but with a vivid awareness of how the gap might be breached.” Matthew Syed
  • “We need to know where we are going wrong if we are going to improve.” Matthew Syed

Episode Chapters:

  • 7:47 Subjective Art
  • 12:21 Purposeful Practice
  • 17:59 Feedback
  • 27:52 Iceberg Illusion
  • 34:54 The Gap
  • 48:11 Deep Domain Knowledge
  • 54:24 Zero-Sum Games and Economics
  • 57:54 Defining Moments

Coming up in July 2019 – A discussion of Dojo to Page: Write Fight Scenes with the book’s author, rental ninja Christine Haggerty, Utah resident, from the balcony of her home in Heber.

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