In Atul Gawande’s Ted Talk “Want to Get Great at Something? Get a Coach.”,  Gawande says that there are “two views” as to how professionals get better (Gawande 3:20). One of these views is that people go to school where “ you study, you practice, you learn, you graduate, and then you go out into the world and you make your way on your own.” (Gawande 3:20) This would be a pedagogical view. The other view is the one that people usually take from sports. People who take the view from sports are the ones who always think you need a coach.

Atul Gawande was a surgeon who believed that his skills had only been improving until he saw his learning curve “leveled out” and he realized that he “wasn’t getting better anymore” (Gawande 7:22) At this point he had thought about trying a coach. Once he decided on this idea, he asked his former professor ,Bob Osteen, to essentially be his coach. He went into Gawande’s operating room to observe him and and later informed him of things he could have done better. Gawande “didn’t think there would be anything much he’d have to say” once they were done with this operation. He said that “it went beautifully” (Gawande 7:48) After hearing what Bob Osteen had to say about his observations, he realized that there were many things he was missing out on, which all happened to be small things but these small things can add up and really make a difference, especially when operating on someone. I think the overall outlook is that no matter how or why you are being coached, it is always helpful and you will gain an insight you have not seen before. 

I think that some of my best teachers have have helped me get better at things I do in a number of ways. In highschool my science teacher also happened to be the varsity assistant basketball coach. Me and this teacher had been very close so it was easier to listen to criticism from this person more than from other people. This coach helped me see things that I was doing wrong that I did not realize I was/wasn’t doing. This coach did the same for me as Bob Osteen did for Atul Gawande. I would think I am doing something right or the best I could but then I’d have a second set of eyes to help correct my flaws. Just like Gawande said in his Ted Talk, “It was a whole other level of awareness” (Gawande 8:23).