The 10,000 hours rule

It’s not what you think it means

If you read Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers you know about the 10,000 hours rule, which is based on a study by Anders Ericsson.

I’ve been listening to the series of episodes for self-improvement month in the Freakonomics radio podcast, which goes deep into this topic. It’s very interesting to hear the conflicting points of view of both Malcolm Gladwell and Anders Ericsson.

I believe that they both reach some common ground when they say it’s not just about deliberate practice.

If you don’t know how to play the piano, you won’t be a great piano player if you practice for more than 10,000 hours with the best teacher. You will definitely get better at it, but you won’t be a star piano player.

They say that “Practice makes perfect” but that’s just not so. If you don’t have some talent, you will never be the best in the world (even if you do deliberate practice for more than 10,000 hours)

Talent plus deliberate practice makes perfect.