Malcom Gladwell 10,000 Hours to Greatness

This morning Kelly Berg of Arte Styling asked a very poignant question on her blog, “How many years does it take to make a good designer?”

Gladwell’s book, “Outliers” and his “10,000-Hour Rule” came to mind immediately.  I was first introduced to Gladwell a couple years ago when my husband was going to school to get his MBA.  I was in heaven because he was bringing home – and I was reading – all these really cool books and authors that I probably never would have heard of otherwise. Gladwell was one of them.

So, anyway this is the comment I posted on Kelly’s blog in response to her question, “How many years does it take to make a good designer?”:

funcolors (that’s me)

September 21, 2010 at 9:47 AM

Malcolm Gladwell’s book titled “Outliers”. In this one MG repeatedly talks about the “10,000-Hour Rule” which is based on a study by Anders Ericsson.

The basic idea is if you are actively engaged in the chosen passion for a focused 10,000 hours, you will arrive at “greatness”.

I can make this relate to professions involving color and design specifically.

When it comes to color in particular, we have called the act of learning and experimenting with color a journey — your color journey. The more robust your color journey, the more expert you become. In return for your investment of effort, you walk away with your own unique experience. It’s logical.

Energy never dissipates it just transforms. Choosing to focus your energy so you become “experienced” in a short time frame or a longer one, isn’t what’s important, IMO. It’s whether or not you choose to invest in focusing the necessary effort and energy at all.

Update: Kelly revamped her blog so the link doesn’t work. Here’s a screen shot of the original post.