The 10,000 Hour Rule, or Putting in the Time
Concluding part one of Outliers, I am struck by a few key ideas. First, that success truly is a group affair, and that accidents of time and place can have a lot to do with whether and how successful a person may become. Second, that genius without support is not enough. Finally, the difference between the merely successful and the wildly successful comes down, in large part, to very, very hard work.
10,000 hours of effort equates to roughly 10 years, and research supports the assertion that this baseline number applies to mastery across fields, from music to computer programming to elite athletics. Innate talent isn't enough; it takes sustained effort, and the kind of support that allows a person to sustain that kind of effort.
What could any of us have mastered if we had given it 10,000 hours? Maybe more importantly, what could we achieve in the future with that kind of devotion?
Malcom Gladwell talks about the 10,000 hour rule (among other things) with Anderson Cooper: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hz4hPbHIZ6Y
Thanks for posting the YouTube of Gladwell and Anderson Cooper. I thought it was particularly interesting because Cooper certainly has a perspetive on cultural legacy. His grandfather was Cornelius Vanderbilt. I remember in Anderson's book he wrote that he thought that whenever anyone's grandfather died, they errected a statue of them in NYC.
ReplyDeleteAs the olympics approach, I find the concept of mastery something interesting to ponder. The athletes have certainly spent their 10,000+ hours in practice and hard work. Gladwell said in the interview, "We need to set up instititions and structures that allow people to achieve mastery ... How can we build institutions that provide opportunities to allow people to work hard?" I don't see our country as one that supports this type of mastery. Certainly other countries support the mastery of their olympic athletes differently. Even in higher education - to me it seems more about endurance than truly supporting the quest for mastery.
It's interesting to watch the mastery concept in the context of youth sports. My daughter is now a dancer, but when she played soccer she was one of few on her team not doing extra camps, private instruction, etc. I always wondered what, exactly, the purpose was of all of the extra attention. Was it mastery, or was it endurance, or was it part of getting into a good college one day?
DeleteUnfortunately, I think it's our culture and "getting into a good college." I was also amazed when my daughter was young how quickly an extra curriculur activity, dance included, turned into a "5-day a week practice or you'll never be good enough for the next level" affair. I was under the impression that these activities were designed for children to experience a variety of interests, but apparently that is not how it works.
DeleteSpecialization happens really early; dance has become that 5 days a week thing in house now, but at least I feel like at 14, it's her choice to be there.
DeleteIs there a way out of the "getting into a good college trap," or would we all just be consumed with guilt of we let them go their own way and then they can't compete?
Ann, I read this book a couple of years ago... and the 10,000 hours of practice stuck with me. More in the 'no wonder I was never an expert in anything athletic that I do'. But, if we are engaged in something naturally, such as most of us and working with learners, we would hopefully continue to get 'better' every year - because of experience.
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10,000 concentrated hours is truly a striking figure, but I agree, we do tend to get better at things over time and with experience.
DeleteHa Ha. I watched the youtube and then came back and read the comments and Wendy- that is exactly what I was going to quote-"We need to set up instititions and structures that allow people to achieve mastery" AMEN- I keep getting students that want to know why they are not yet successful interpreters- Well HELLO.. 3 hours a week times 15 weeks. Is 45 hours of language training class a semester. Second language acquisition requires thousands of hours of development and training... So why are we not setting up systems that will create mastery- I have no idea- but that is a dream of mine. An interpreter Trainer Institution.
ReplyDeleteI hope that you get to found the Interpreter Trainer Institute; you clearly have passion for interpreting.
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