After poring over more than a century of evidence on progress, cognitive scientists Wayne Gray and John Lindstedt observed a fascinating arc. When our performance stagnates, before it improves again, it declines. When people’s skills stalled in tasks ranging from Tetris to golf to memorizing facts, they didn’t usually ascend again until after they had deteriorated. When we reach a dead end, to move forward, we may have to head back down the mountain. Once we’ve retreated far enough, we can find another way—a path that will allow us to build the momentum needed to reach the peak.
