10,000 Minutes

A quote from Barack Obama popped up in my LinkedIn feed today that followed along the lines of "If you strive to be excellent, there is no balance."  This, of course, is the call to cast work-life balance aside in the singular pursuit of making your business successful.

I've never been able to successfully classify myself as a diligent worker.  Other people have mentioned unbidden that I was at least a decent worker, and, like most people, if I get interested in a particular topic or am up against a deadline, I'll put in extra time.  However, by and large, I've never understood the desire to prove oneself by working long hours.  In fact, one of my proudest accomplishments was running one of the most successful engineering teams at my company without any team member working more than 35 hours per week on average (the standard 40-hour work week with an hour for lunch thrown in every day).

Bragging about being a more dedicated worker because you're exhausting yourself and neglecting the rest of your life is like bragging you're a better boxer because you've been punched in the face more.

Look, if you have a singular focus and want to carry a guitar around everywhere and make sure you're playing 7 hours a day to be the best, I can respect that.  But, I think our culture places too much of a premium on being excellent, rather than focusing on being good enough.  This philosophy is espoused by such winning phrases as "If you're not first, you're last."

Such thinking devalues the experience that all of us feel in one manner or another in some aspect of our lives.  It's generally accepted (at least at the moment) that Tom Brady and Lionel Messi are the GOATs of their respective fütbols.  I'm less familiar with Messi (I know, typical American) than I am with Messi, but I do know that, in addition to being blessed with natural athletic ability and cheekbones that could cut glass, Brady worked hard to achieve his status.  

I wouldn't trade places with him, though.  His focus likely had to be myopic to the point of excluding everything else in life and focusing solely on winning.  If I were placed in the same position, I'd feel less like a GOAT and more like a robot.  In addition, when we devote our attention solely to the "winner," we lose sight of the complexity and the supporting cast that enabled the winner to win.  We also downplay the effort needed to just make it to such an elite level, even if you're a bit player.  I'm always in awe of someone who's participated in college sports, which is a level I certainly was never able to achieve.

But what if there's an actual spot (or several) between first and last for the rest of us that don't require such an elevated status?  I was inspired to write this post while downloading the Ultimate Guitar Tabs app, when it asked me how often I practiced.  One of the options was 2-3 hours a week, which the app labeled as a dedicated practitioner (or garage band certified or something like that).  On average, that's about how often I practice.  I've mentioned it here and here, but I try to put in 15 minutes every day practicing - in consecutive blocks if possible, but cumulative is fine - so I don't get stuck in the "if you can't practice for 1 hour, you shouldn't even bother" phenomenon that historically affects me.  Most days, I go a little bit over and play for about 20 or 25 minutes, putting me pretty firmly in the 2-3 hours per week camp.

Much has been made of the 10,000 hour claim to reach expertise (though the science behind this claim is a bit dubious, since the term 'expert' is pretty fluid).  At my current rate of 2 hours per week, I'd be an expert in 100 years.  Clearly, I should stop because I just won't devote the time to becoming an expert.  

But then I thought - what if I can devote 10,000 minutes to a topic or hobby?  That's approximately 167 hours in total - slightly over 1% of the total time needed to become an expert.  What are some things you can do in 167 hours? Well...

• You can learn guitar well enough to play chords, some lead lines, and even write your own songs (and will certainly be able to play several of your favorites if you choose that route instead).  You're not going to be a fret-tapping genius, and your technique will need more polish, but, especially in rock or pop genres, you'll easily find your stride.  
• You can put together at least 20 (and counting) pieces for a micro art history site.
• You can speak at an A2 level of CEFR-certified European languages (basically all of them).  This essentially lets you navigate day-to-day life with relative ease in your target language.  You'll miss out on more complex topics, but you don't always need to tell everyone that you're unable to understand the complexity Goethe's themes in their own language.  Sometimes it's a joy just to order off a menu and know what you're ordering while making small talk with the server.
• You can write a 200-page novel and go through at least one second draft.
• You may not be an "expert" in a particular topic, but you can read up and converse with a significant authority on it.

Not too shabby for putting in 1/100 of the effort of an expert.  And, if you can only put in 1000 minutes?

• You can learn at least a few basic chords on guitar, which will allow you to play along with 1000s of songs (or even write your own).
• You can at least master basic greetings and phrases in a language, which always goes a long way when you're traveling.
• You can write a short story or two.
• You can learn a lot about a topic you've always wanted to delve into but couldn't make the time for.

Obviously, structuring your effort matters, because if you just strum an open G chord for 100 hours, you're not going to get very far.  But, if you have a few simple sources to guide you, you'll have enough material to improve rapidly.  You'll know you're on the right path if you've hit 167 hours and realize that you've just scratched the surface of what's possible.  At that point, you'll be able say something like "I've learned enough Spanish to be dangerous, but I want to move on to something else" or you may say "Quiero estudiar español más en mi vida.¨  

But either way, you'll have made progress and be freed from the tyranny of needing to be an expert.  So, what are you waiting for?  Join me in being good enough!

Until next time, my human and robot friends.