Outliers: How talent is overrated
In his latest book Malcom Gladwell claims that talent doesn’t make one successful. It’s more about practice and being lucky. He makes his point with insightful examples which can hold their claim. The Beatles are one example. They were lucky enough to be invited to play in Hamburg, Germany in 1960. In Hamburg they played seven days a week for eight hours straight! In those trips they made to Hamburg they played twelve hundred times together which is quite unique. So you can conclude that The Beatles had a lot of practice.
According to Gladwell it comes down the the 10.000 hour rule. If you practice something for 10.000 hours you’re bound to get good at it. Outliers: The Story of Succes is loaded with great examples which demonstrate this 10.000 hour rule.
How does this 10.000 hours of practice apply to a designer?
Dee Barizo made a blog post about how to practice as a designer. He gives some great pointers:
- Practice is not enough, you need to improve. Doing the same thing over and over again won’t help you unless you improve.
- Seek feedback. Without feedback it’s hard to determine if you improve.
- Don’t overdo it. Your brain can handle so much, straining it won’t do you any good.
So, stop reading this blog and start practicing!
P.S: Dee Barizo talks about another book Talent is Overrated by Geoff Colvin. I haven’t read it but it looks very similar to Outliers. Fascinating.
