Malcolm Gladwell wrote Outliers.
It’s subtitled “The Story Of Success.”
The big theme of the book?
Ten thousand hours of practice or experience is needed to master and possess a world-class skill.
Agreement and disagreement with the theory abound in equal measure.
And people question how long 10k hours of learning would take to accomplish.
What about sleep? Does it include weekends? Are we talking about working hours?
These details miss the big picture.
But, if details interest you, strictly speaking, 10,000 hours is just over one year (416 days) in duration.
That’s the equivalent of eighty-three working weeks if you could spend all your time on just one subject.
Here are two ways to speed things up.
If something needs doing but you have no interest in acquiring a particular skill, you can,
- Cheat (works for some in exams)
- Have a go (trial by error – those shelves look wonky)
- Hire someone else to do it (satisfying)
- Hire a bodyguard (all that self-defence training looks painful)
When you choose this option, the person you hire should have those 10,000 hours of experience and skills (that’s especially important for solution 4).
Alternatively, you can learn the skill but get the know-how faster.
I’ve worked out that I have acquired at least 72,800 hours of event-related experience (at the very least).
And many of my colleagues are at the 50,000-hour mark.
Much of what I’ve learned about exhibiting is within our two training courses.
Either one might help you, or a colleague cut a big chunk out of your 10,000 hours.
You can acquire either one for the cost of fifteen low-range coffees or less.
And that’s based not even the fanciest, highest price options.
You’ll find full details on this page of our website.
Very best,