THE MORE high-quality mistakes you make and correct, the faster you learn. And that’s what top performers know intuitively.
Don’t optimize for efforts, optimize for errors. This is exactly how artificial intelligence learns, right? In machine learning, the system spots the error and learns faster by reducing the error in the next cycle. It minimizes its loss function and it does it billions and billions of times over. It doesn’t care about feeling good next time. It doesn’t get upset when it makes mistakes. It only cares about one thing – being less wrong next time.
But we humans try to avoid mistakes at all costs. That’s why so many talented people plateau after years of excellence. They keep doing the things that make them feel good or even worse, look good.
When I was learning music from my teacher, he would give me these exercises and compositions and I would play it while staring at him, waiting to see if he likes it or not. And he would always say, “Why are you looking at me? Don’t look at me. Look at your hands. They are your best
teachers.”
And he was right. When I focused on the tiny mistakes that I was making by looking down at my own hands, yes, I felt horrible. I was annoyed. I was frustrated. I was embarrassed. But that’s when my brain started minimizing the loss function of my own mental model.
Getting to mastery then is all about structured boredom filled with embarrassment, discomfort, and a lot of error corrections.
Here’s how you build your five-step loss function loop…
Step number one, define the metric. What does better actually mean in your situation right now? Is it about speed, clarity, accuracy, retention, learning rate?
Number two, predict the outcome. Before you start, guess how well you will do. Give yourself a number.
Number three, now you deliver. Go slowly enough to notice what you’re doing. You’ll always spot mistakes when you go slower.
And number four, find the exact failure point. That’s your loss function. That’s your goal signal. You’ll hate it, but you need to see it clearly.
And then finally, number five, adjust one variable and repeat. Either adjust the speed or the technique, tool, approach. Change only one thing and then run the loop again.
Most people get stuck because they’re trying to feel good at what they’re doing every day. The top performers just try to be less wrong every day.
Principle number three is becoming comfortable with adaptive tension. Most people spend their careers and their lives dodging hard conversations and decisions. But the top 1% do the opposite. I learned this by watching someone who I believe had ice water running in his veins.
Years ago, I was in a room with my chief executive officer negotiating a major acquisition. Our company’s CEO and the other company’s chairman. The tension was so thick and palpable. And after two hours of back and forth, it was time to wrap up. And my CEO leaned forward and said very calmly, “We really believe the two companies should come together. We will be unstoppable if we do that. How about we agree on X million? Based on what I’ve heard from you in this meeting, I believe that it’s a higher offer and it’s a fair offer.” And then he leaned back and went completely silent.
After what felt like ages, the chairman finally smiled and said, “Thony, I think I’ll be willing to take this to my board.” (To be continued)/PN
