Max Riffner
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Mastery Takes Time
Mastery by George Leonard is the first book in my Personal MBA journey, and it has been hitting home while I’ve been reading it. It confirms much of what I already believed in – that mastery of anything is achievable by anyone given enough time and patience. Unfortunately, our drive-thru culture makes mastery hard when everyone wants instant satisfaction.
Take comics for instance – I could honestly say that after at least 10 years of serious cartooning commitment that I am just now feeling like I’ve gotten somewhere. I still don’t consider myself a master. Not even close. Probably by the time I’m 50 or 60 will I feel I’ve come to a level of competence that would be close to a “master” level.
In the book, Leonard points to how we learn and charts it. Master learning happens to look like a steady climb, with a little dip at regular intervals, then starting to climb again (there are other charts in the book for different profiles and how the profiles sabotage your mastering much of anything).
I can see this steady climb-dip-climb pattern already in my yoga practice. I reached a point in August where I made lots of progress – being able to do inversions with a spot was the largest achievement. However, I ran into a dip after Labor Day; what I had been able to do a mere week before had been met with much difficulty. Last night, I started to surge back into a steady climb after a few weeks frustration. I did really well last night – in fact, I felt like I reached a new level of competency as I moved through all the moves with a control and grace I hadn’t felt before. I even did my first inversion without a spot. Leonard says this a sign of mastery; after a dip, the next climb will find you stronger and better than you were previously.
Ben always tells me a good story about how it takes at least 10 years of yoga to be considered anything more than a beginner. I’m looking forward to the next 10 years.
I don’t know – what makes an artist a master?
I will say this: when we are children, we all have an affinity to art. It usually just gets drummed out of us or neglected for whatever reasons, traditionally so we can learn math and science. Dan Pink’s A Whole New Mind speaks to this phenomenon. I remember in my drawing classes that yes, there were certain people who could render things on paper better than me, and there were people who were worse than me – almost to the point of wondering what they were doing in the class.
They all passed, and the worst ones got a ton better. Regular practice brought these people who had only held a pencil for writing to a competent level of drafting.
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Sep 28, 12:09 AM
I like the thrust of what you are saying, and before we kick off another debate, let me say that I mostly agree with you. However, don’t you think that natural, “God-given” talent plays a role as well as time put in? I tend to think that with some things, like art for example, you either have an aptitude for it or you don’t. Which is not to say that one can’t get better with practice and time put in, but the majority of people would never become a “Master Artist” no matter how hard or long they tried.
Oh, and how long did it take you to become a “Master Debater?”
Huh. Huh. Master Debater.
Get It?
(Sorry. I couldn’t help myself.)