To be or not to be (an expert)? Revisiting the role of deliberate practice in improving performance

ABSTRACT

In 2014, Macnamara, Hambrick, and Oswald published a meta-analysis of studies questioning the strength of the association between deliberate practice and performance. In this brief report, the correlation reported by Macnamara et al. (2014) is placed in the context of other well-known associations. Additionally, a re-analysis of the studies included in Macnamara et al. (2014) was conducted. Taken together, the evidence suggests that deliberate practice is a potent and reliable method for improving performance.

KEYWORDS:

• Expertise
• deliberate practice
• meta-analysis
• performance improvement

Acknowledgment

Thanks to Macnamara and colleagues for making their data available for the present analysis.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Supplemental material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed here.