Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell: Have You Put In Your 10,000 Hours?

[Shawn Carson]

Malcolm Gladwell's book "Outliers" takes a different look at what drives certain people to a level of success that is off the charts compared to the rest of us. The basic premise of the book is that to attain a level of expertise at anything, you have to put in 10,000 hours in that one thing. He then shares a number of examples that include youth baseball, hockey and soccer, the Beatles and Bill Gates.

10,000 hours is basically ten years and Mr. Gladwell points out that the circumstances surrounding the 10,000 hours may be just as important. For example, Gladwell noticed that over half the birthdays of the best players on a teenage competitive baseball team fell into the first three months of the year. He traced that back to the cutoff date for sign ups when these ball players first started playing at age 5. Those whose birthdays were near the cutoff essentially got a year's head start over the ones whose birthdays were just past the cutoff. This led to greater skills early which led to being chosen for all star teams and competitive travel teams which extended the season and gave them access to better coaching. By the time these kids were 12 years old, they already had nearly twice the playing experience as their peers. By the time they hit their teens, they had gotten their 10,000 hours in and the best of them were ready for the pros.

Of course talent and determination are a large part getting there but something as seemingly insignificant as a sign up date has a powerful impact in deciding who gets to have the opportunity.

I believe this has relevance to the debate about entrepreneurs and whether they are born or built. Anyone who has been successful in business or any other endeavor, if they are honest, would have to say they had a lot of help. The conditions were right at critical moments for them to capitalize on their innate personality traits that led to their entrepreneurial success. If this is true then it must also be true that some do not make it because of the absence of those same conditions.

The big question is.... to what extent can an entrepreneurial support community provide those right circumstances? Is it possible to create these "entrepreneurial outliers?"

[Barbara M. Lee, DesignSmith]

We can give light to the facts, so we won't waste time looking for the magic that makes a business successful. What helps? What's a waste of time? What truthfully must be done - so apparently 10,000 hours!!! I know I've heard that about writers - they must write all the trash out of their system, and there's a lot of it, before they start writing really good stuff. And artists are the same way. We have to do tons of drawings and paintings that get thrown away - not framed - before the good stuff starts to emerge. I can see that networking is the same way. We go out there and as a newby, we say Hi! Would you like to talk about me?! How embarrassing! So thousands of hours later, we learn it's about helping someone else (truly) and building trusted relationships. And that sounds a lot like EOK!!!

[Leonard Knight]

That does seem to work. If you don't talk about yourself but instead offer your wisdom and knowledge in a genuine effort to help others, it pays great dividends. It's a fine line though; I don't give away my services. My advice and opinions are worth exactly what I charge for them...nothing. What you do with my advice? That could be very valuable! But, it's up to you.

It doesn't really cost very much to write a blog article or have a short meeting over breakfast or lunch. If I say something that helps others, great! If they remember me when they have an opportunity that requires my services, I really appreciate it!