"Practice isn't the thing you do once you're good. It is the thing you do that makes you good" -Malcom Gladwell
What is the 10,000 hour rule?
According to Malcom Gladwell, an individual needs at least 10,000 hours worth of work in order to master, perfect and hone a skill. Through Gladwell's studies of prodigies he has proven that this number is not random and is immutably factual. Most of the successful outliers that we know of have spent more than 10,000 hours honing their craft and that is the reason why their legacy still permeates today. Having talent by itself is never enough. Gladwell articulates that you have to pounce on opportunity and put in the meaningful hours in order to become an expert in your pursuit.
Prodigies
Let's look at some of the prodigies that Gladwell talks about in his book 'Outliers'.
The Beatles
The Beatles are put on a pedestal as this sensational band that arrived in America in the mid 60's having gained immediate potency and great success. Little do people know of their work prior to their arrival in New York. When the Beatles were still a struggling small band, they were invited to play at a strip club in Hamburg, Germany. The Beatles took the opportunity and would play 8 hours every night, 7 days a week. The strip club owner states that every time they came back to perform they were more confident, had a more lively stage presence and sonically sounded better. Due to all those hours of practice, by the time they arrived to America they had already mastered their skill. Hamburg was the making of the Beatles (Galdwell, 2013).
Bill Gates
Similar to the Beatles, Bill Gates discovers his love for computer programming at a young age. In the late 60's computers were not easily accessible to the public. So young Bill Gates would pounce on any opportunity available to practice his love of programming. Throughout his early years he would spend hours on end in schools' and universities' computer labs honing his love for computer programming. Bill Gates' early success is predicated on the 10,000 hours of work he put in from 8th grade up until he decided to drop out of Harvard and create Microsoft.
Mozart
Mozart is known to be one of the world's most famous composers of music. However, Mozart's early work wasn't the best. The musical prodigy started creating his finest work 20 years after he had began composing (he was composing since the age of 5). Once Mozart hit the 10,000 hours mark, he started gaining acknowledgement for his work. Having said that, Mozart's legacy has omnipresence as his work transcends time and still remains to be of great impact today.
References
Gladwell, Malcolm.(2013).Outliers :The Story of Success. New York: Back Bay Books.
Comments