High-Variability Practice: Why Mistakes Build Stronger Learning

If you’ve ever tried to learn a new skill and thought, “Why am I making so many mistakes?” — here’s the twist: those errors might be exactly what your brain needs.

In the moment, smooth practice feels efficient. But research shows that high-variability practice — the kind that feels messy, error-prone, and a little frustrating — leads to stronger long-term learning and transfer. This is the science of desirable difficulties: making practice just challenging enough that your brain has to work, consolidate, and adapt.

Let’s unpack why messy practice works, when to use it, and when to dial it back.

What Is High-Variability Practice?

High-variability practice means deliberately changing conditions, formats, or problem types during practice instead of repeating the exact same task over and over.

In a study of science problem-solving (Van Merrienboer et al., 2013), students given highly variable problems made more errors during practice but solved more new problems later compared with students who practiced in a predictable, low-variability way.

Translation: errors now, wins later.

Why “Desirable Difficulties” Work

Our brains learn by building flexible patterns. If practice is too uniform, you get good at that version of the task but collapse when the context changes. Variability forces the brain to notice what really matters (the principles) versus what can shift (the details).

Think of it like this:

• Easy, repetitive practice = memorizing one route on Google Maps.

• Variable practice = learning the whole city grid. Slower now, but when there’s construction, you still get where you need to go.

Real-World Examples of High-Variability Practice

Here’s what high-variability practice looks like in professional life:

• Presentations: Instead of rehearsing only with your slides, practice once with slides, once with only a notecard, once standing up with no no notes. You'll stumble more, but when the projector fails, you’ll be ready.

• Excel / Data skills: Don’t just repeat the same VLOOKUP tutorial. Try different datasets, columns in new orders, missing values. You'll make more mistakes during practice, but your skills will flex to any spreadsheet at work.

• Language learning: Don’t memorize one set of phrases. Say the same idea in different ways: in an email, in a meeting, in a Slack update. It feels clunkier, but your fluency will be more resilient.

• Leadership communication: Practice giving feedback in different settings: one-on-one, in a team update, and via email. Each format stretches your skills, building transfer.

When Not to Crank the Difficulty

Not every moment is right for messy practice. If the intrinsic load of the material (its natural complexity) is already sky-high — like learning SQL joins for the first time — adding variability too early can overwhelm.

Guideline:

• New skills: Start simple with worked examples to avoid overload.

• Once basics are in place: Add variability to push for retention and transfer.

Messy practice isn’t about chaos. It’s about dialing difficulty to the “productive struggle” zone: not too easy, not crushingly hard.

Quick Self-Test: Are You Practicing for Performance or Transfer?

1. Are you breezing through practice with no errors?→ You’re optimizing for performance, not learning. Add variability.

2. Do you make frequent mistakes in practice but succeed later in new contexts?→ You’re in the sweet spot of desirable difficulty.

3. Do you feel completely lost and give up?→ The difficulty is too high. Scale back to worked examples or smaller steps.

The Bottom Line

Smooth practice feels good, but messy practice builds skill. By adding variability and embracing desirable difficulties, you trade short-term comfort for long-term efficiency.

Next time you’re frustrated by mistakes, remember: errors today mean learning tomorrow.

FAQs

What is high-variability practice?

High-variability practice means practicing under different conditions, formats, or problem types, which makes practice harder but boosts retention and transfer.

Why are mistakes important for learning?

Errors create desirable difficulties that force the brain to consolidate and adapt, leading to stronger long-term memory and flexible skills.

What are desirable difficulties?

They are challenges that make practice harder in the moment but improve retention and transfer later. Examples include spacing, variability, and reduced cues.

When should I not use messy or difficult practice?

When learning a brand-new, complex skill. Start with worked examples first, then add variability once basics are stable.

How can I use high-variability practice?

Rehearse presentations with and without slides, practice feedback in different formats, or rotate data sets in Excel to make your skills more adaptable.