Chapter II · Principle 1

Practice Makes Perfect

Sections

1. 01Practice Makes PerfectThe performance mindset begins, rather prosaically, with practice.
2. 025:45AM
3. 03HOMEWORKIn 1993, when he was 11, Lang won the Xing Hai Cup Piano Competition in Beijing.
4. 04Practise a lotPractice makes perfect. Practice won’t guarantee that you will become a virtuoso, and people with talent can deliver great performances with less practice than a less-gifted performer would need. But the very best performers are those with great talent who practise very hard.
5. 05Sweat the difficult bitsWhen artists practise, every detail – a note in a musical scale, a step in a dance routine – is worked on until it is perfect in itself.
6. 06Have heroesAll artists have heroes: other artists whose work they admire and emulate.
7. 07Practise until it’s second naturePerforming artists practise until the technical aspects of the craft have become second nature – until they can perform things ‘in their sleep’.
8. 08Practise a lotPractice in the world of business tends to be confined to education: MBAs, skills training, leadership development courses. Once we have finished our ‘formal’ education, ongoing training tends to be sporadic and ad hoc.
9. 09Sweat the difficult bitsModern leaders don’t have to be Renaissance men and women, skilled in every art and every branch of knowledge. But there is a lot of stuff that we have to master and that we dare not bluff.
10. 10Have heroesYou don’t have to do this on your own; study the masters.
11. 11Practise until it’s second natureThe point of practice is to be able to forget about it.