Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Outliers & the 10,000 Hour Rule

 Haley Scholars Fall 2012 Reading Groups

Readers have found the ideas that Gladwell raises in chapter two of Outliers quiet fascinating. In particular, they have been drawn to Gladwell’s discussion of the “10,000 hour rule,” that is, the notion that it takes about 10,000 hours of practice for a person to gain a truly remarkable mastery of a given skill. In other words, people would have to work on perfecting their skills for approximately 20 hours a week over the course of 10 years in order to acquire and display exceptional degrees of expertise.

Gladwell cites the early careers of computer whizzes Bill Joy and Bill Gates and The Beatles as examples of people who had achieved success in large part because they had achieved their 10,000 hours of practice. It’s worth noting that those who gain those 10,000 hours of practice have unique resources and vital networks of support and opportunity.

What’s a useful or creative way that we could start thinking about the 10,000 hour rule or at least something comparable in terms of an extended commitment to a field of study or talent here at SIUE? Is something comparable (hundreds of hours as opposed to ten thousand) or even possible given the demands and perhaps distractions of a general college education?

16 comments:

Joshua Jones said...

I think there should be a program that pushes students to get at least ten thousand hours of practice in a field of study or a talent they have. If the student succeds in logging in the hours then the university could give them a merit. I could see this as a challange for most students because in order to get ten thousand hours it would take numerous hours of commitment. In the book for example, Bill Joy was incredible gifted, but in order to get there he would be in the lab nonstop. As a college student it would be a challange to balance school, a social life, and other personal responsibilities.

Unknown said...

The 10,000 rule I do think apply to life but at the same time all the people in the book had luckily came across something or someone that help them reach higher levels. So considering that I do not believe that everybody who reaches the 10,000 hour mark will be successful in there life or make it big.

Unknown said...

I think the 10,000 rule is a good logic; you put in what you want out. However, the drive has to be solely on the individual. The examples he wrote about like Bill Gates and Bill Joy, went above and beyond to be successful and they didn't allow themselves to be distracted. It's more so a mixture of self-control, discipline, and practice that makes a person good at something. Thus I think the only roll SIUe can play is being a motivator.
Ashya F.

Tatierra Witherspoon said...

The 10,000 hour rule for something you want to excel in could be close to impossible now. With school work & other important aspects in your life , it would be hard to commit to just one thing. In free time it would be possible , but to get to that expertise level it could take longer than expected.

Jacqueline Carter said...

A useful way we could start thinking about something like the 10,000 hours rule, is by offering a program dedicated to students' interests or bringing people in that have actually accomplished it, as motivation.It is possible to achieve these hours if the student is committed, but as college students, there are so many things you have to prioritize.

Ajeenah Johnson-Brown said...

I feel that it would be possible to start a program at SIUE is similar to the 10,000 rule. There could be a study program consisting of professors in different fields. Students can join the program to get interaction with professors of their field outside of the classroom. In order to stay in the program you must log a specific amount of hours a week of both individual studying and studying with a professor. I believe this will work because according to the study mentioned, conducted by K. Anders Ericsson, the violinists that were more likely to succeed professionally practiced more than the others. Therefore, I believe the more people study the more likely they are to have success in their field of study.

Ajeenah Johnson-Brown said...

I believe SIUE could start a program similar to the 10,00 hour rule. It would consist of professors in many different fields of study. Students in the program will be required to log a specific number of hours every week of both individual and studying with a professor in their field of study. This one on one research can be anything from tutoring to a hands on lab. According to psychologist K.Anders Ericsson's study mentioned in the book, the violinist who were most likely to succeed professionally practiced more than all other violinist. Therefore, I believe the more students study their specific field of study the more successful they will be.

Christopher Wade said...

The 10,000-hour rule isn't something that most people have to the patience to complete to the same degree as Bill Joy and Bill Gates so instead we should start off with at least one hour a week dedicated to any pursuit in a goal you want to achieve. By doing this we will not put as much pressure on ourselves to accomplish our goals and gain more confidence in ourselves to pursue them.

Jade Green said...

The 10,000 hour rule could be good idea but I believe nowadays people would not have the patience or time to do it. As a college student there is a lot of pressure to do other things instead of studies.

Mariah Bond said...

I honestly do not think there is a need for a 10,000 hour rule. Yes, most of the time when people have a lot of practice they are good at that certain thing but that isn't always the case. It could be someone that has not had as much practice as the next person and could be better.

Jessica Oranika said...

The examples given in the book show that most of the people who mastered their subject in their twenties started very young. If Siue students started now, they wouldn't finish until their early thirties and most people would have graduated, gotten jobs and started raising children by then. This is why i don't think 10,000 hours is realistic for most people. Both Bill joy and Bill Gates talked about how they spent all of their time programming computers. Most people have other things to do that makes it impossible to get that much time and that makes the few who manage to get their 10,000 hours that much more amazing.

-Jessica Oranika

Wole Abraham said...

I believe that the 10,000 rule could help certain people. Not everyone has the drive to want to practice continuously for that time. Everyone needs a push in the right direction so they can get started. SIUe should have more of a mentoring program to guide college kids in the right direction. In the end its up to the person if they want to succeed or not.
Wole Abraham

Raven Cole said...

I believe that the 10,000 Hour Rule is unrealistic for me personally as a college student. There are so many things in my life that I have to put my time into. Maybe once I have my career that will be the one thing that I focus on.


Raven Cole

Unknown said...

I believe that someone would only be able to commit this much time to something if they had some sort of motivation or drive. Although 10,000 hours may be pushing it, someone who had a drive and help to succeed in a certain field could do so. Only flaw in this logic is that today, many people have a lot of other things on their plates such as work, school, and relationships and it would be hard to commit so much time to one thing in particular.

Dj Sterling said...

I think SIUE could just try to educate the students about the ten thousand rule. We always have different activities that go on in the Quad and that could be one of them. Most people know that they have to work hard in their field of study, but I don't think they've heard of this rule. It's my very first time. So I think getting the message of commitment, time, and effort would be beneficial to this generation.

Unknown said...

I believe the 10,000 hour rule is plausible, but only for a select group of people. If we all were to implement this logic into our lives, we would have to start at a very young age.