The 10000 hours myth
At the moment there seems to be a lot of garbage being bandied about that to be an “expert” you need to spend 10000 hours doing one thing.
Who is coming up with this twaddle?
It is of course, the people who learnt about computers a few years ago at school and have just entered the workforce. It is where most of these “experts” have been out of school about 10-15 years and would have you believe they are “experts” in many different disciplines already. It is those from University who have been brainwashed into thinking they are the “experts” because the right learning establishment has given them the right piece of paper effectively declaring them to be an “expert”. (And I have met a lot of these). 🙁
These disciplines include engineering, design, coding, marketing, sales, database and anything new that has appeared on the world scene in the last twelve months.
They are of course BS agents of the first order.
The reality is that concentrating on a subject for 10000 hours merely brings you to the point of being a Journeyman (just out of their apprenticeship) where they can understand what they are trying to do, and can produce a reasonable facsimile thereof. From there they will have another decade (at least) to reach the stage of craftsman or competent tradesman. To become a Master Craftsman or Tradesman will require even more time, and most times people never achieve that status (irrespective of what it says on their business card).
The end of a 10000 hours apprenticeship was always regarded as the starting point of a craft or tradesman’s career – not the ultimate end of it. That is why they were known as Journeymen.
An “expert” is defined in a dictionary as “a person who has a comprehensive and authoritative knowledge of or skill in a particular area.”
Can you be an “expert” in multiple disciplines?
I do not believe you can. There is an old saying “A jack of all trades, and master of none”, which I believe explains perfectly what a 10000 hour multi-discipline “expert” really is.
The longer you work at something, then the better you get at it (this is called practice), but the more you practice the more you know about less and less (because you don’t have enough time). Eventually, of course you know absolutely everything about nothing at all. 🙂
I have heard of Building apprentices that spent their whole apprenticeship hanging doors, and the bare minimum of anything else. They are great at hanging doors, but I wouldn’t expect them to build a house for me.
Choose your 10000 hours “expert” with great care.