Deliberate Practice

Deliberate practice is Anders Ericsson's research-based concept describing the specific kind of practice that builds expert-level skill. It is purposeful (targeting a specific capability), structured (designed to progressively stretch the learner beyond their current performance), feedback-rich (the learner receives information on what worked and what did not after each attempt), and sustained (carried out over long time horizons). Deliberate practice is distinct from ordinary repetition or general practice, which can produce no skill gain even across decades. Problem Sets operationalize deliberate practice in workshop contexts by providing a curated sequence of problems that target a specific skill with progressively increasing difficulty and structured feedback on reasoning.