For years I have preached the importance of hard work, determination, persistence and practice — make that perfect practice — as key ingredients of success. A nifty new book seems to support my theory.
Malcolm Gladwell has written a fascinating study, “Outliers, The Story of Success,” which should make a lot of people feel much better about not achieving instant success. In fact, he says it takes about 10 years, or 10,000 hours, of practice to attain true expertise.
“The people at the very top don’t just work harder or even much harder than everyone else,” Gladwell writes. “They work much, much harder.” Achievement, he says, is talent plus preparation.
For example, The Beatles had been together seven years before their arrival in America. They spent a lot of time playing in strip clubs in Hamburg, Germany, sometimes for as long as eight hours a night. John Lennon recalled: “We got better and got more confidence. We couldn’t help it with all the experience playing all night long.”
Estimates are that that the band performed live 1,200 times before their big success in 1964. By comparison, most bands don’t perform 1,200 times in their careers.
Neurologist Daniel Levitin has studied the formula for success extensively, and shares this finding: “The emerging picture from such studies is that 10,000 hours of practice is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world-class expert in anything. In study after study of composers, basketball players, fiction writers, ice skaters, concert pianists, chess players, master criminals, and what have you, the number comes up again and again. Of course, this doesn’t address why some people get more out of their practice sessions than others do. But no one has yet found a case in which true world-class expertise was accomplished in less time. It seems it takes the brain this long to assimilate all that it needs to know to achieve true mastery.”
As Gladwell puts it, “Practice isn’t the thing you do once you’re good. It’s the thing you do that makes you good.”
My observations support all that he says. Our sales reps hit their prime after several years of hard work. I believe it’s more than getting comfortable in the job because I’ve seen sales reps who seemed like naturals at selling who couldn’t do it. Why? They thought they could get by on their good looks, their winning personalities or their pedigrees. Investing 10,000 hours didn’t apply to them — or so they thought. I wouldn’t know, because they aren’t working for us anymore.
Consider these thoughts from successful folks in all walks of life:
“A winner is someone who recognizes his God-given talents, works his tail off to develop them into skills, and uses these skills to accomplish his goals.” — Larry Bird, basketball star and later team coach and team president.
“No one can arrive from being talented alone. God gives talent; work transforms talent into genius.” — Anna Pavlova, poet.
“I know the price of success: dedication, hard work and an unremitting devotion to the things you want to see happen.” — Frank Lloyd Wright, architect.
“Things may come to those who wait. But only the things left by those who hustle.” — President Abraham Lincoln.
Mackay’s Moral: Some people dream about success, and others wake up and do something about it.
Harvey Mackay is president of Mackay Envelope Corp. and a nationally syndicated columnist.
