Ideas worth spreading

Want to get great at something? Get a coach

3,924,727 views |

Atul Gawande |

TED2017

• April 2017

How do we improve in the face of complexity? Atul Gawande has studied this question with a surgeon's precision. He shares what he's found to be the key: having a good coach to provide a more accurate picture of our reality, to instill positive habits of thinking, and to break our actions down and then help us build them back up again. "It's not how good you are now; it's how good you're going to be that really matters," Gawande says.

How do we improve in the face of complexity? Atul Gawande has studied this question with a surgeon's precision. He shares what he's found to be the key: having a good coach to provide a more accurate picture of our reality, to instill positive habits of thinking, and to break our actions down and then help us build them back up again. "It's not how good you are now; it's how good you're going to be that really matters," Gawande says.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Learn more about the work of Ariadne Labs, the joint center for health systems innovation founded by Atul Gawande.

Donate to Ariadne Labs and help saves lives and reducing suffering through scalable solutions like coaching that produce better healthcare everywhere.

About the speaker

Atul Gawande

Surgeon, writer, public health innovator

See speaker profile

Surgeon and public health professor by day, writer by night, Atul Gawande explores how doctors can dramatically improve their practice using approaches as simple as a checklist – or coaching.

Atul Gawande | The New Yorker, 2011 | Article

"Personal Best"

I explored the concept of coaching, from the history of American collegiate sports to the world’s elite musical geniuses, from a classroom in Virginia to my own operating room in Boston. Along the way, I learned a number of surprising, amazing, and ultimately useful things about how we get better at what we do.

K. Anders Ericsson, Michael J. Prietula, Edward T. Cokely | Harvard Business Review, 2007 | Article

"The Making of an Expert"

While much more research has been added in the past ten years, this summary of the scientific foundations of the relationship between coaching and reaching the peak of expertise remains a fantastic overview and starting point. Make sure you have some serious time on your hands—the article isn’t long, but you’ll be googling fascinating historical examples for hours!

Malcolm Cowley | The New Yorker, 1944 | Book

Unshaken Friend II

Max Perkins was a quiet, unassuming man, but he was also one of the most famous and revolutionary literary editors ever. He worked for the notoriously stodgy publishing house Charles Scribner’s Sons during the first half of the twentieth century, ushering in a new era in American literature by shepherding authors like F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and Tom Wolfe into print. This profile by Malcolm Cowley gives us a glimpse into what made Perkins such an amazing editor and coach.

Jim Knight | Corwin Press, 2017 | Book

The Impact Cycle: What Instructional Coaches Do to Foster Powerful Improvements in Teaching

After two decades of studying coaching in the classroom, Jim Knight is an expert. His book The Impact Cycle offers a nuts-and-bolts approach to educational coaching, lessons that can be extracted and applied to other professional fields.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Learn more about the work of Ariadne Labs, the joint center for health systems innovation founded by Atul Gawande.

Donate to Ariadne Labs and help saves lives and reducing suffering through scalable solutions like coaching that produce better healthcare everywhere.