This resonates with my view about expertise: experts are able to perform without much effort or thought when the goal is an adequate performance. For Susan, a ballet dancer who has a highly anticipated date after her evening performance, the morning’s 9 a.m. show for schoolchildren might be one of those times when an adequate job is good enough. An adequate performance is much easier than a stunning one, and on autopilot she can attain adequacy. But when the stakes are high, she will exert herself, both mentally and physically, to do the best job possible.
