The Rule of 10,000 Hours

Malcolm Gladwell's new book Outliers looks at what makes for gifted and successful people in our culture. We may not buy everything Mr. Gladwell is selling, but it certainly gives rise to thinking about those age-old questions of nature vs. nurture, multiple intelligence theory, and flow theory. For parents, these are important questions, given that our task is to develop our children, to endow them with experiences and skills which will enable them to achieve their fullest potential.

Gladwell sometimes eschews the notion of gifted education. Rather two points give us pause for consideration.

First, the rule of 10,000 hours. Gladwell says that success takes hard work. Successful people aren't just working harder than everyone else, they are working much, much harder. He points to the Beatles who logged 10,000 hours perfecting their skill by working dirt cheap in a German club before finally hitting the big time. He points to Bill Gates who had access to computer technology long before it went mainstream, and so could log in thousands of hours practicing a skill to which any foreseeable competition was denied. When mom used to say "practice makes perfect," she evidently really did know what she was talking about.

Secondly, what will make those parents out there just coasting along leaving everything to chance cringe, Gladwell says that a positive cultural heritage seems to make for a successful child. Gladwell (whose great-great-great grandmother was an African slave) dedicated the book to his Jamaican grandmother, who instilled a strong sense of how to be successful - or at least how to get out of Jamaica and get educated - into his mother. He says there is no replacement for work ethic and the most successful people have had someone who, even by the chance of history and fate, enabled them to develop that work ethic into a gift.

But one caution - success does not necessarily equate with money. A person can be very gifted at something that produces no income. He/she can practice 10,000 hours at something that has absolutely no monetary reward. But there is the chance that in the right historical circumstances, that person can translate his/her gifts into a rewarding career. I'm thinking of the London journalist, Neill McCormick, who followed just on the cusp of U2's success with his band that was every bit as good, but never achieved acclaim himself (he went to school with Bono and the rest of U2). He documents his experience in I Was Bono's Doppelganger - he finally gave up his band, but in the transformation became a well-known writer and used his experience to become a published author. Evidently, his 10,000 hours was better spent practicing his writing skills.

While Gladwell has been criticized for taking random facts and turning them into "scientific research," his premise makes sense. Hard work, putting in 10,000 hours practice, combined with visions and talent, can make for a very successful life. Help your child find flow (the point at which a person becomes so engaged in practicing a skill that he loses all track of time or sense of hunger, etc.) and then give them the space and encouragement to develop that skill. It may be transient, but through exploration and experimentation, your child will, with luck, find that one thing that tips him over into a success that will bring a rewarding and joyful life.