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本文为一篇TED演讲

作者：Eduardo Briceno

原文链接：http://www.ted.com/talks/eduardo_briceno_how_to_get_better_at_the_things_you_care_about

我们大多数人在生活中都希望每件事能做到最好。无论是工作、家庭、学校或者其他任何事，都是如此。我也有同样的想法。我尽了自己最大的努力。可不久前，我突然意识到，在我最在意的事情上，我并没有多大长进。作为丈夫、朋友、同事和在职业技能上，我虽然花了很多时间并认真对待，可仍不见进展。此后，我关注我和别人的一些对话、还有一些研究，发现这种瓶颈，非常常见。

Most of us go through life trying to do our best at whatever we do,whether it's our job, family, school or anything else.I feel that way. I try my best.But some time ago, I came to a realization that I wasn't getting much better at the things I cared most about,whether it was being a husband or a friend or a professional or teammate,and I wasn't improving much at those things even though I was spending a lot of time working hard at them. I've since realized from conversations I've had and from research that this stagnation, despite hard work,turns out to be pretty common.

所以接下来我想和大家分享一下事情为何如此，还有我们可以怎么做。我了解到，那些最高效的人和团队在任何领域做得事情我们都可以模仿。他们在生活中刻意切换于两个区域中：学习区和表现区。

So I'd like to share with you some insights into why that is and what we can all do about it.What I've learned is that the most effective people and teams in any domain do something we can all emulate.They go through life deliberately alternating between two zones:the learning zone and the performance zone.

学习区，我们的目标是进步，我们所做的事情就是为了取得进步，重点放在我们还没有掌握的事情上。这就意味着我们容忍错误，因为我们可以从中学习。这和我们在表现区所做的事情区别很大。在表现区，我们的目标是把一件事做到我们力所能及的地步，去执行一些任务。我们的焦点在我们已经掌握的东西上，并努力减少错误。

The learning zone is when our goal is to improve.Then we do activities designed for improvement,concentrating on what we haven't mastered yet,which means we have to expect to make mistakes,knowing that we will learn from them.That is very different from what we do when we're in our performance zone,which is when our goal is to do something as best as we can, to execute.Then we concentrate on what we have already mastered and we try to minimize mistakes.

这两个区域都是我们生活的一部分，但需根据目标、重点和期望的不同（到底是为了工作还是为了进步），清晰明白的知道我们该在哪个区域。表现区重点在于当时的表现，而学习区重点在于我们的成长和未来的表现。我们很多人非常努力但却没有进步的原因就是，我们往往把我们的时间放在表现区。这阻碍了我们的成长。并且讽刺的是，长此下去，还会影响我们的工作表现。

Both of these zones should be part of our lives,but being clear about when we want to be in each of them,with what goal, focus and expectations,helps us better perform and better improve.The performance zone maximizes our immediate performance,while the learning zone maximizes our growth and our future performance.The reason many of us don't improve much despite our hard work is that we tend to spend almost all of our time in the performance zone.This hinders our growth,and ironically, over the long term, also our performance.

那么，学习区是怎样的状态？有个人叫德摩斯梯尼（Demosthenes），古希腊政治领袖、伟大的演讲家和律师。为了追求卓越，他并没有把所有时间放在演讲家和律师的工作上（这是他的工作区）；相反，他做了很多提高自己的事情。自然，他学习了很多，在导师的指导下学习律法和哲学。但是他也知道，要成为一个律师就要说服别人，所以他还学习演讲和表演。他有个很奇怪的习惯，就是会不自觉的耸肩；为了克服这点，他在镜子前练习演讲，还在肩上悬一把剑，他一抬起自己的肩膀就会很痛。

So what does the learning zone look like?Take Demosthenes, a political leader and the greatest orator and lawyer in ancient Greece.To become great, he didn't spend all his time just being an orator or a lawyer,which would be his performance zone.But instead, he did activities designed for improvement.Of course, he studied a lot.He studied law and philosophy with guidance from mentors,but he also realized that being a lawyer involved persuading other people,so he also studied great speeches and acting.To get rid of an odd habit he had of involuntarily lifting his shoulder,he practiced his speeches in front of a mirror,and he suspended a sword from the ceiling so that if he raised his shoulder,it would hurt.

他口齿不清，但为了让自己说话更清晰，他在嘴里含着石头进行演讲。他建了个地下室，在那里练习可以不受打扰，也不会打扰其他人。因为法庭很嘈杂，他还在大海边练习，让自己的声音盖过海浪的咆哮声。

To speak more clearly despite a lisp,he went through his speeches with stones in his mouth.He built an underground room where he could practice without interruptions and not disturb other people.And since courts at the time were very noisy,he also practiced by the ocean,projecting his voice above the roar of the waves.

德摩斯梯尼在学习区的表现和他在法庭上即其表现区的表现非常不同。在其学习区，在做到了安德斯·埃里克森博士（Dr. Anders Ericsson）所说的刻意练习。即把一项技能分解成不同模块的下层技能，清晰地知道我们正在努力提高哪一部分：比如努力保持不耸肩；在我们的舒适区外进行高难度的挑战，但只能比我们能做的难一点点；经常收集别人的建议，反复练习并作出调整；积极接受教练的指导，因为为进步而训练的项目都是非常专业的，而优秀的老师和教练知道这些训练项目是什么，并能进行专业的指导。

His activities in the learning zone were very different from his activities in court,his performance zone. In the learning zone, he did what Dr. Anders Ericsson calls deliberate practice.This involves breaking down abilities into component skills, being clear about what subskill we're working to improve,like keeping our shoulders down,giving full concentration to a high level of challenge outside our comfort zone,just beyond what we can currently do,using frequent feedback with repetition and adjustments,and ideally engaging the guidance of a skilled coach,because activities designed for improvement are domain-specific,and great teachers and coaches know what those activities are and can also give us expert feedback.

只有在学习区的这种练习才会让人取得巨大进步，而不能仅花时间在完成任务上。例如，研究表明在一个岗位上工作几年后，一个人的能力会停滞不前。这在教师、一般医学、护理和一些其他行业都得到证实。之所以会这样是因为一旦我们认为自己能较好的胜任工作，我们就会停止在学习区花时间。我们会将全部的时间都用来完成工作，而这并不能让我们却进步。

It is this type of practice in the learning zone which leads to substantial improvement, not just time on task performing. For example, research shows that after the first couple of years working in a profession, performance usually plateaus.This has been shown to be true in teaching, general medicine, nursing and other fields,and it happens because once we think we have become good enough, adequate, then we stop spending time in the learning zone. We focus all our time on just doing our job, performing, which turns out not to be a great way to improve.

但坚持在学习区花时间的人会持续进步。一流的销售员每周至少一次练习提高自己：读书增长见闻、向同事或行业专家请教、尝试新的策略、寻求反馈并反思。一流的象棋手不仅花很多时间在下棋上，还尝试预测大师的下法并做出分析。我们每个人都花了非常非常多的时间在打字上，但速度并没有越来越快，如果我们每天花10-20分钟，聚精会神，让自己的打字速度比平常快10-20%，我们就能越来越快，尤其是在我们能识别自己的错误并练习打这些词的时候。这就是刻意练习。

But the people who continue to spend time in the learning zone do continue to always improve.The best salespeople at least once a week do activities with the goal of improvement.They read to extend their knowledge,consult with colleagues or domain experts,try out new strategies, solicit feedback and reflect.The best chess players spend a lot of time not playing games of chess,which would be their performance zone,but trying to predict the moves grand masters made and analyzing them. Each of us has probably spent many, many, many hours typing on a computer without getting faster,but if we spent 10 to 20 minutes each dayfully concentrating on typing 10 to 20 percent faster than our current reliable speed,we would get faster,especially if we also identified what mistakes we're making and practiced typing those words.That's deliberate practice.

那我们生活中还有什么东西，是我们更关心并且非常努力，但却因为我们总是在表现区，而没什么进展的呢？这并不是说表现区就没有价值。表现区非常具有价值。在我进行膝盖手术时，我绝不会告诉医生：“来吧，插到里面去，练习你不了解的东西。” “我们可以从你的错误中学习。” 我想要的医生是我觉得她能做的很好的医生，并且我希望她能做的很好。

In what other parts of our lives, perhaps that we care more about, are we working hard but not improving much because we're always in the performance zone? Now, this is not to say that the performance zone has no value. It very much does. When I needed a knee surgery, I didn't tell the surgeon, "Poke around in there and focus on what you don't know." "We'll learn from your mistakes!" I looked for a surgeon who I felt would do a good job, and I wanted her to do a good job. 

处在表现区使得我们能出色的完成工作，并且非常鼓舞人心，还能告诉我们我们接下来在学习区该练习什么。所以通往高超能力的方法就是在学习区与表现区之间相互切换，有目的地在学习区培养我们的技能，然后把这些技能应用到表现区。

Being in the performance zone allows us to get things done as best as we can. It can also be motivating, and it provides us with information to identify what to focus on next when we go back to the learning zone. So the way to high performance is to alternate between the learning zone and the performance zone, purposefully building our skills in the learning zone, then applying those skills in the performance zone.

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