What would you do with 10,000 hours?

Groundhog Day, starring Bill Murray, is one of my favorite movies, even if it is a little repetitious! For years, friends of mine would come over every Groundhog Day for a meal and a little time reliving Murray’s frustration at having to live the same day over and over and over. There is a segment of time during the movie when Murray stops fighting against his fate and starts using the time available to him differently. He begins to read French poetry in the coffee shop. He takes piano lessons. He learns how to sculpt ice. That part of the movie has always fascinated me. What would I choose to learn if — like Murray’s character — I had all the time in the world available to me?

Recently Mark Batterson blogged about a book he is reading, Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. Here is a part of what he wrote.

I’m currently reading Malcolm Gladwell’s new book, Outliers. Wanted to share a finding I’ve heard before. Basically, it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert at anything! It doesn’t matter whether it’s athletics or academics. According to Gladwell, there are no “naturals.” You have to put in the time. Generally speaking, the only difference between an elite person in any field and everybody else is usually a few thousand hours of practice time.

I find this study so empowering. Anybody can become an expert in just about anything. Obviously, you need a baseline of talent if you’re talking about music or sports. But you can accumulate knowledge and become an expert.

Wow. Did you catch that? It’s basically my Groundhog Day come to life. With 10,000 hours of practice at nearly anything, you can become an expert. So what are we waiting for? What is it that we want to become an expert in? Batterson went on to say that in becoming a great writer, you must put in the hours to becomea great reader. He estimates he’s ready 2,500 books since high school, adding up to over 10,000 hours. I thought about that, knowing that I’ve got him beat on the number of books. Yet, am I an exert? Not really.

One of Batterson’s readers, Jason Condon, responded in the comment section with his analysis of the book and another recommendation. Condon read “Talent is Overrated” by Geoff Colvin. In this book, the principle of 10,000 hours holds true, but Colvin takes it a step further. For you to develop that expertise, the hours of practice need to be intentional and directed. In other words, no one becomes an expert by accident! Jason Condon provided a link to his extensive notes of the second book, Talent is Overrated. After reading his summary I am excited to go out and get the book for myself, though I feel as if I’ve digested the important parts of the message. They are some of the best notes on a book I’ve run across. Click here to go check out Jason’s notes, and thank you, Jason, if by some chance you read this.

So we are back to our original question. It’s the start of a new year. What do you want to learn this year? Do you want to become an expert in a field? Or just learn a new skill? This year has over 8,000 hours in it. Those hours are going to slip by or they are going to be used intentionally. Unlike Bill Murray, we have a choice.

Here are a  links to other blogs reviewing Talent is Overrated. I’m sure I’ll be reviewing it myself in the near future!

Leadership Challenge

Mark Needham

Tagged as: Bill Murray, eVotional, Geoff Colvin, Groundhog Day, Jason Condon, Malcolm Gladwell, Mark Batterson, Outliers, Talent is Overrated