About this video

• Video Title: How to break the hidden limits of expertise | Atul Gawande for Big Think+
• Channel: Big Think
• Speakers: Atul Gawande
• Duration: 00:08:19

Overview

This video discusses how professionals approach skill improvement over time, contrasting the traditional "pedagogical approach" of continuous schooling with the more effective model of having a coach. Dr. Atul Gawande shares personal anecdotes from surgery and tennis to illustrate the benefits of ongoing feedback, external observation, and agreed-upon development goals for breaking through expertise plateaus.

Key takeaways

• Pedagogical vs. Coaching Approach: Medicine often relies on a "pedagogical approach" where professionals are expected to continuously learn on their own after initial training. In contrast, fields like sports and music (and increasingly, medicine) benefit from coaches who provide external feedback and guidance.
• The Value of a Coach: Even top professionals like Roger Federer and Itzhak Perlman have coaches. Coaches observe performance, identify areas for improvement, and help individuals overcome skill plateaus by offering a different perspective and structured feedback.
• Personal Experience with Coaching: Dr. Gawande himself experienced a mid-career plateau in surgery and, inspired by his tennis experience, hired a coach. This led to significant improvements in his surgical outcomes and a renewed sense of learning.
• The Role of Feedback: Ongoing feedback from an external observer is crucial for changing one's mindset and improving performance. This feedback can be specific, like observing surgical technique or meeting dynamics.
• Setting Development Goals: Coaches help professionals set specific, measurable goals for improvement over a defined period (e.g., 3 months), covering areas like technique, teamwork, leadership, or teaching. This creates a shared understanding and a basis for focused development.

Atul Gawande's experience with his tennis coach directly influenced his decision to seek a coach for his surgical career. He noted that he was "midlife in my tennis game as well" and was willing to pay a tennis coach for advice. He realized that if he was willing to invest in improving his tennis, which was a personal pursuit, he should consider the same for his professional career in surgery, especially since he had reached a plateau in his skills. This comparison made him question why such a practice wasn't common in medicine and led him to seek out a coach for his surgical practice.

According to Atul Gawande, a teacher primarily makes "deposits of knowledge or skill" but doesn't necessarily observe performance over an extended period. In contrast, a coach circles back, observes performance consistently, and actively helps the individual walk through the process of change and improvement. The coach's role is to guide and facilitate the ongoing development of the professional.