Steepen Your Learning Curve with Deliberate Practice
The four pillars for achieving mastery.
The 10,000-hour rule is a harmful myth.
Malcolm Gladwell argued in ‘Outliers,’ if a person practices a skill for 10,000 hours, they will become a world-class master in that field.
While this simple rule sounds appealing, it’s wrong in several ways.
Ericsson, a scientist among the study’s authors that Gladwell popularized, debunks this learning myth:
- Ten thousand hours was an average. Most world-class performers practiced less or more before they achieved mastery.
- Nothing in the study implied almost anyone could become an expert in a given field by practicing ten thousand hours.
- Gladwell didn’t distinguish how the hours were used. If your practice is ineffective or flawed, even 10,000 hours won’t help you become a master.
Luckily, there’s a better model you can use to replace the misleading 10,000-hour rule — deliberate practice. Here’s how it works and how you can use the method to steepen your learning curve.