10,000 Hours – Deliberate Practice – Opportunities – Relative Age Effect (RAE)

Outliers was published in 2008, it gained immediate success debuting at number 1 on the bestseller list at the New York Times.

Malcolm Gladwell conveys an intriguing investigation into the ‘Outlier’, which in simplistic terms is defined as anyone that stands out (an anomaly) from the rest of society.

Using plenty of interesting examples, Gladwell, in essence, attempts to dispel the myth that success is primarily based on talent, rather highlighting effort, application, opportunities, timing and luck as crucial elements of success.

Albeit not his own theory, he uses the 10,000 hours principal to quantify just how long it takes to become an expert or master at something. For instance, in football this equates to around 20 hours per week for 10 years. Read more