Anders Ericsson

K. Anders Ericsson was a Swedish psychologist and professor of psychology at Florida State University widely recognized as the world’s leading scientific researcher on peak performance and expertise. Born in Sweden, Ericsson earned his Ph.D. from Stockholm University before moving to the United States to conduct groundbreaking cognitive research.

Ericsson’s revolutionary scientific studies demonstrated that high-level expertise is not simply a matter of innate talent, but rather the result of thousands of hours of what he termed ‘deliberate practice’—focused, structured repetition aimed at continuous improvement. His academic papers formed the empirical foundation for modern understandings of skill acquisition.

His research popularized the famous ‘10,000-hour rule,’ which was later brought to mainstream audiences by Malcolm Gladwell in Outliers. Before his passing in 2020, Ericsson co-authored Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise, summarizing his life’s work for general readers and leaving an enduring legacy in education and coaching.