Peak by Anders EricssonIf you have heard of the “10,000 hour” principle, then you
have come across the work of Anders Ericsson. The famed “10,000 hour” principle
was popularized by celebrated author Malcolm Gladwell in his book Outliers (a great work), but Ericsson
finds scores of people misinterpreting and misconstruing his findings.
First, Ericsson never postulates that 10,000 is a magical
number; as if one just practices enough hours, they will become experts.
Second, Ericsson is adamant about the type of practice. Practice cannot be mindless,
it must be deliberate.
Peak is about
deliberate practice. The popular notions of natural talent, overnight
successes, or mere luck greatly devalue work. Simply put, if someone is great
at something or if someone is a so-called expert, it is because they have
worked extremely hard to become great. They have put in countless hours (give
or take 10,000) to become great. Experts do not become experts overnight. They work
hard, harder than everyone else.
Now, anyone can take this information and manipulate it or
disagree with it. In one podcast, Gladwell and Ericsson even disagree on how
deliberate practice works. But one thing is clear, there are no shortcuts to
being great. It takes a lot of work. Most people do not want to put in the work,
which is why there are actually very few experts out there.
This was a fun read. Though it’s a standard book, the book
felt stretched. It could have been shorter.