The 10,000-Hr Rule, Debunked
If you’ve ever read Malcolm Gladwell’s 2008 bestseller, “Outliers” you may remember his self-improvement rule based on Anders Ericsson’s research. If not, let me refresh your mind.
The rule is that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to master anything. Everyone’s heard that “practice makes perfect” but, according to Gladwell, 10,000 hours of practice is the magic number…or is it?
I’ve always put my all into mastering tasks or new things. In middle school, when I started playing basketball, I became obsessed with practicing. I’d show up early to get in extra time and I’d stay as late as my dad would let me practice my shots. Throughout the summer I spent the entire 3 months playing against all the boys at the park. When the new season rolled around I realized I was now the best one on the team. All those late nights spent on the court had paid off, I took notice as did my coaches.
So, when I read about Ericsson’s research I perked up. He focused on violin students at a music academy in Berlin. The study found that by the age of 18, the students had already put in an average of 7,400 hours. And the most accomplished of the students had put in 10,000 hours by the time they turned 20. The study showed that while the violin players were good they were not yet experts.
Ericsson says Gladwell’s theory is incorrect and an oversimplification of his research. This is where Gladwell misrepresented the theory, 10,000 hours was not actually a number of hours reached, but an average of the time masters spent practicing. Some practiced for much less than 10,000 hours, while others spent over 25,000 hours.
To set the record straight, what the study actually found was that it’s not simply how much we practice but how deliberate and purposeful it is.
What Gladwell left out of his book is that when it comes to human skill, a complex combination of environmental factors, genetic factors, and their interactions explains the performance variables across people.
Rules To Greatness
Deliberate Practice
Practicing is like studying, if you don’t study the right thing or in the way that is most helpful to you it won’t be effective. This is one of the biggest flaws of the 10,000-hour rule. It focuses on the amount of time spent practicing, and not the quality of that practice — and not all practice is equally helpful.
Skilled Mentorship
Having a skilled mentor or coach to guide you is essential. They help you to identify weaknesses and work to correct them, while also recommending specific practices to develop unique abilities.
Start Early
The age of when someone begins a certain activity also plays a role in how well you can learn something. There is an early age time lapse when complex skills are most easily acquired, so starting early is key.
Genetics
The genetics of a person also correlates to how well and how quickly they can learn new skills. The number of hours some people will need to put in to master a skill will be different depending on their genetic disposition.
Innate Ability
Some innate ability is necessary to become a master in a field. There are limits to the power of practice, and when one person may learn to code in 10,000 hours it may take others more or less time.
Ways To Improve Your Skills Today
A good way to start utilizing this guide is by first, accessing your limits and figuring out what your skill level and boundaries are. Once you’ve identified that, you can set specific goals for yourself to keep as a guide for improvement. Be sure to be committed and persistent. Greatness doesn’t happen overnight.
Step out of your comfort zone and be willing to reach out to someone you look up to that is skilled in the talent you want to acquire. Show up ready for training, ask for feedback, and pick their brains. Use their time wisely to gain insight into their techniques. Form connections through your mentors and build a rapport with people that can answer your questions.
Don’t be deterred by your age, jump in, and start with baby steps. It’s never too late to learn new skills or talents.
What I learned In The Process
While the 10,000-hour rule isn’t exactly as accurate as Gladwell emphasized in his book, it is partly right. Practicing is always a huge part of mastering something. What Gladwell failed to emphasize are the different variables that depend on mastering certain skills. Deliberate practice with the right guidance, age, and genetics play an inherent part in the development of your unique talents. So, before you dedicate 20 years to something, make sure you’ve focused on these key rules and guidelines to improvement, and maybe you can master it in less.
