{"id":413,"date":"2024-03-07T18:29:00","date_gmt":"2024-03-07T18:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/FelipeZamana\/?p=413"},"modified":"2026-04-11T15:37:45","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T15:37:45","slug":"want-to-go-beyond-great-get-a-mentor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/felipezamana.com\/pt\/want-to-go-beyond-great-get-a-mentor\/","title":{"rendered":"Want to go beyond great? Get a mentor"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How do professionals get better at what they do? And how do they go beyond great?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I hear this kind of question a lot. By far, the most common answer is by practicing<\/em>. But practice alone, even if deliberate, will not make us exceptional.<\/a> We can always explore different techniques, read uncountable books, apply to training programs (both academic and professional), and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But is this enough to be really<\/em> great at something?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, I studied by myself for many years.<\/a> I read a bunch of books, took classes in academic creativity programs, and discussed ideas with other experts that I admired. It\u2019s not like I felt that I knew everything -because I knew that I didn\u2019t-, but I thought that I knew enough<\/em>. When I started at the PhD, it was clear to me how much I didn’t know, but especially how much was left to be learned -and having a mentor was key for my improvement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Practicing is just a form of our own struggle to develop expertise, which is how we improve in the face of complexity -or don’t. But eventually, we will reach a limit from where we can\u2019t go further on our own. In other words, we stop getting better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his TED talk,<\/a> the surgeon Atul Gawande pointed out two views about this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne is the traditional pedagogical view. That is that you go to school, you study, you practice, you learn, you graduate, and then you go out into the world and you make your way on your own. A professional is someone who is capable of managing their own improvement. [The teacher] inculcates in them habits of thinking and of learning so that they could make their way in the world without them. Now, the contrasting view comes out of sports. And they say, \u2018you are never done, everybody needs a coach.\u2019 Everyone. The greatest in the world needs a coach. [But the most common idea is that] expertise means not needing to be coached.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, why do you need a mentor? Isn’t discussing ideas with other experts enough?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we talk about expertise, it’s how good we are going to be that really matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being part of a group or community of experts with whom you can share ideas is a great thing, indeed. The problem is that it is not enough if you want to go beyond great. Dave McAlinden<\/a>, director of Instructional Design at Columbia University, explained that experts understand and apply concepts without thinking about them.<\/a> Although this is fantastic for their own use of that knowledge, it doesn\u2019t necessarily translate well for teaching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether you are aiming for professional eminence or to simply be able to do a more meaningful work,<\/a> we need to balance study and practice and, eventually, count on a mentor to overcome learning barriers along the way. People need challenge and support to develop expertise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even being an experienced and respected surgeon in the medical community, Gawande went through this very same issue. Until he decided to ask a former professor of his who had retired to come to his operating room and observe him. After a year of having a mentor, he certainly felt the difference in his medical practice. In his words:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are numerous problems in making it on your own. You don’t recognize the issues that are standing in your way or if you do, you don’t necessarily know how to fix them. [After a certain level of expertise,] it’s the small things that matter. It was a whole other level of awareness. What great coaches do is that they are your external eyes and ears, providing a more accurate picture of your reality. They’re recognizing the fundamentals. They’re breaking your actions down and then helping you build them back up again.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You need to learn and deliberately practice many things to be a doctor, a lawyer, a carpenter, or a musician. But knowing many things only helps you to arrive at more ignorance, that is, in what you know you don\u2019t know.<\/em><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is fascinating about expertise is not what we have already done or know, but the questions<\/em> that remain to be asked. You must be consciously ignorant<\/em>. And a mentor is the best way to not lose sight of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, why not have a mentor to aid you in asking the important questions?<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How do professionals get better at what they do? And how do they go beyond great? 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