Time and Expertise

As mentioned before in part 1 of the Unchain Your Brain series, it takes about 5 to 10 years to become an expert at something. With artists, this progress gets depicted visually and thus provides an easy means to demonstrate the 10,000 hours principle.

Below are two pencil drawings done by me. The first is a drawing that was done for my platoon’s range flag in boot camp when I was 18. I would like to point out that it took years of effort to be able to do the first drawing this well. If you go back far enough, my drawings were indistinguishable from the drawings of other children. The main difference is that I continued to draw, when other children did not. Fast foward to now. The second drawing was done last week (I’m now 34) for a platoon at TBS. Not only has my drawing process become more refined over the years, and continues to improve, but I was able to draw the second picture faster and with an ease of effort that was absent in the boot camp image which I struggled with.

I’ll admit that being an expert at drawing cartoony bulldogs with guns is a niche skill to be an expert at; however, I think such niches are becoming more prevalent in society due to the necessity of segmentation.

As the world becomes more complex, the time to become an expert remains the same. As a result, collaboration becomes more important as segmentation of responsibility becomes essential to maintain progress. Consider that in 1903 building the world’s most advanced aircraft could be accomplished primarily by the efforts of two people — Wilbur and Orville Wright. Today, with the expertise required in aerodynamics, hydraulics, jet engines, and computerized navigation systems it requires far more expertise, and therefore more experts.

There is a niche out there for everybody. The questions are: What do you want to be great at? And what’s stopping you?

MCSFCO Spartan

Here is another Spartan design we’re working on.

Unchain Your Brain Part 1: Learn to Learn

Part 1 — Part 2 — Part 3 — Part 4— Part 5

To excel in any profession, in which but few arrive at mediocrity, is the most decisive mark of what is called genius or superior talents.

— Adam Smith

Make it a point to become an expert at something. While you’re at it, purge yourself of the words “talent” and “genius.” To many, these words imply innate ability and are useless concepts in a quest for those who seek intellectual improvement. If the assumption is that abilities are natural rather than developed, there would be no point in any of us attempting to acquire skills we don’t already have. Where others would use the word “talent” I suggest the word “expertise.” Where others use the word “genius” I suggest the word “expert.” To the extent a person is considered a genius, I believe he or she has developed enough expertise in his or her field to offer something new. This is why the “genius” of many great people, like Abraham Lincoln, Vincent Van Gogh, and Thomas Edison, can only be seen in hindsight-after they’ve done something great-not before.

Even Albert Einstein’s potential went largely unrecognized throughout his early life. Only through the rearview mirror can we see that Einstein was capable of revolutionizing physics. He was an uneven student, even flunking one of his college physics courses. Upon graduation from the Polytechnic in Zurich, Einstein was one of the few physicists in his class that had a hard time finding employment —nearly starving while waiting for a job according to his friend Friedrich Alder. Some may say that his genius was unrecognized. I offer a different interpretation. I submit that Einstein’s “genius” wasn’t recognized before 1905 because before 1905 it didn’t exist. Only after his expertise advanced beyond a particular stage could he see the conceptual leap that he had to make. The point is that there wasn’t anything innate about what Einstein did, except perhaps his passion for physics and his aversion to authority that allowed him to cast off the prevailing scientific dogma of the day so easily.

The goal then, instead of becoming a genius, which is largely considered innate, is to become an expert, which is learnable. Almost anybody can do it. There is a formula for it that I’ve learned by coupling psychology research regarding expertise with observations made while studying non-degreed achievers (and a few degreed ones like Einstein). In order to become an expert, a learner must iteratively amass 10,000 hours of reading, collaboration, and experimentation in an area of expertise. A person’s level of expertise can be measured by the following equation:

Before they developed their skills and expertise, the non-degreed achievers were seen as ordinary mortals, just like the rest of us. They all intuitively used the learning formula to learn, while avoiding the common traps that prevent learning from occurring.

The time principle: 10,000 hours

Researchers who have studied the development of expertise have shown that it takes about 10,000 hours over 5 to 10 years to develop expertise in a specific domain. Since there are only 8,760 hours in a year, we can see it is impossible to develop expertise quickly or broadly. Perseverance is required. Of the people I’ve studied, it’s amazing how often breakthroughs come in the 5 to 10 year range of working in an area of expertise. Einstein’s journey into the special theory of relativity started at the age of 16 when he imagined what it would be like to ride along a beam of light. Ten years later, after intense study, he published his paper on special relativity that would change physics forever. Ten years after that he published his papers on general relativity, again after intense study, and he again revolutionized physics. Bill Gates succeeded in business while he was young, but he started his collaboration with Paul Allen when he was twelve. They spent years learning computers and software together, doing odd computer work for various companies and launched a business in 1972 that was more of a sputter than a spurt. Only after seven years of collaboration did they found Microsoft and even then Paul Allen had to take a job with MITS, the manufacturer of Altair who also lent the fledgling company office space in its strip mall location in Albuquerque New Mexico. It took three more years (ten years from the start of their collaboration) for Bill Gates and Paul Allen to get Microsoft to a cash flow positive position. It has been cash flow positive ever since.

The seeds of such achievement need not be planted at an early age. The development of expertise seems to have less to do with your age at the start than it does with how long you keep at it. At the age of 37, Benjamin Franklin became interested in electricity when a traveling showman by the name of Archibald Spencer introduced him to the subject. It took him nine years of research and experimentation to realize that lightning could be contained in a metal lightning rod, an invention that has since saved countless homes and lives making Franklin one of the most celebrated scientists of his day. Likewise Vincent Van Gogh didn’t decide to become an artist until he was 27. He didn’t even paint for the first two years of his study, instead choosing to focus on the fundamentals of drawing. He systematically studied perspective and anatomy until he felt that he could command them well enough to paint before he ever put brush to canvas. Once he did start painting it took him years of study and experimentation to develop his signature style. He was aiming for impressionism and simply overshot his mark to create expressionism. He did around 900 paintings in his lifetime and his most famous ones, like Starry Night were done in the last year of his life, ten years after he began his quest to become an artist.

There are several implications related specifically to the time principle:

1.) A four-year college program won’t create experts. There is not enough time. At best a four-year program can lay some of the early groundwork for expertise, but you have to either stay in school perpetually or learn to open-source educate. Not learning to open-source educate is to risk being left behind by others using the learning formula. Some may scoff at that, but in business who would want to go head to head against the open-source educated Steve Jobs? Michael Eisner, the former head of Disney did-and he lost. In addition to Michael Eisner being ousted as the CEO of Disney, Steve Jobs now holds more public stock in Disney than any other person. If college is a part of your education plan, that’s a good start. Just make sure the learning doesn’t stop when you graduate.

2.) You can’t be an expert at everything. When Albert Einstein tried to test his way into the Polytechnic he failed the test. He did well in the math and science portions of the test but failed the general section, which, among other things, included zoology and botany. He went on to pass the test later and was admitted to the school. Thank goodness the school was so strict with its admissions. Imagine what the world would be like without the botanical contributions of Albert Einstein! Actually, it would probably be exactly the same. You can’t be an expert at everything, but don’t worry; you don’t have to be. While Einstein contemplated the nature of the universe, flowers were still planted.

3.) You can be an expert at more than one thing. With a pattern of lifelong learning, Benjamin Franklin became an expert printer, writer, businessman, scientist and statesman. Every five to ten years you can master something new.

4.) Expertise is not dependent on formal institutions. This is a running theme in my writings. Noticing that some of the greatest Americans in history achieved great intellectual feats without the aid of a college degree is why I started researching learning. To review, the non-degreed achievers I’ve been studying are: Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Thomas Paine, Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, Mark Twain, Thomas Edison, The Wright Brothers, Walt Disney, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Michael Dell. Albert Einstein, who I also am studying, of course, did attend college and even earned a doctorate; however, his learning process was the same as the non-degreed achievers, and that’s the important distinction.

It takes time, focus and an integrated strategy of reading, experimentation and collaboration to build expertise. The age you start isn’t critical in the long run. If you haven’t learned much to date you’ll just be considered a late bloomer. If you’re young you’ll be considered a prodigy. Whatever your age, if you haven’t started already, now is a good time to get your brain in gear.

Part 1 — Part 2 — Part 3 — Part 4— Part 5