Practice perfect or perfect practice?
Practice perfect or perfect practice?
“Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect.”
That’s a famous quote from the legendary Vince Lombardi.
Last week on LinkedIn people suggested a modification to that line: “Only “perfect practice” makes “perfect” permanent.”
I like it. But, I’m not a big believer in either perfection or permanent perfection.
They both sound boring (as well as undefinable, unachievable and unsustainable.)
The goal for sellers is not to attain perfection. It’s to become the best version of you.
As hard as we try, we’ll always have imperfections. That’s what makes us human.
Which is why I like the concept of perfect practice.
Perfect practice is about optimizing the value of what you practice by practicing at “game speed” and being coached and receiving feedback on the thing(s) you practice.
The whole theory of deliberate practice assumes that you aren’t practicing your craft in isolation. But that you are receiving immediate constructive feedback and coaching that you can integrate in real-time into your practice and real-life selling.
It’s the difference between going to a golf practice range and hitting two buckets of balls all on your own versus hitting one bucket of balls with your coach standing behind you providing their immediate feedback after every swing you make. Giving you the opportunity to make the next swing better.
It’s about practicing with the same intensity, and to the same standards of performance, you’d do in a real life setting (like a sales call or a game.)
This raises a couple questions:
How much time are you devoting to practicing your sales skills each week?
How much of that practice time is spent with a coach?
Good selling,
Andy
??Sexy visual marketing for tech brands | Staffing guru product designers & devs for startups | Entrepreneur ????
1 年Feedback is the best tool to practice perfectly. When you're training, there are a lot of assumptions and giving that extra reassurance can help a great time.
Unleash The Storyteller Within You | 2x Bestselling Author, Speaker & Coach | TEDx
1 年Awesome, Andy Paul. Thought this was a very interesting quote: “Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect.” Good reminder to be ver deliberate about how we practice!
As a leader and developer, I inspire others through curiosity and partnership
1 年Bruce Lee may have the best practice quote ever: “. I do not fear the man who has practiced 1000 kicks. I fear the man who has perfectly practiced 1 kick”. I probably horribly paraphrased it, but I ruminate on it frequently. Meaningless, unfocused, time bound practice is wasteful. Focus on the goal and form, and get the feedback needed to meaningfully improve
Marketing Leader @ Bongo | Teaching Brand Awareness & Demand Tactics on Limited Budget | Enneagram 3
1 年Having a technology that supports this type of practice is beneficial as well! ??