10,000 Hour Rule

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a big consumer of business books and leadership podcasts. I believe you can learn so much from these forms of media—they provide you guidance and a framework for how you think, act, and perform. One of the best books that I’ve ever read was Outliers - The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell (great author by the way).

What stood out to me about Outliers was Gladwell’s 10,000-Hour Rule. The whole idea started because Gladwell spent time looking for research that made claims that were contrary to what he considered to be popularly held beliefs about success. Gladwell noted that "the biggest misconception about success is that we do it solely on our smarts, ambition, hustle, and hard work.” Gladwell claims that instead, greatness requires enormous time, hence the 10,000-Hour Rule.

He studied Bill Gates, who met the 10,000-Hour Rule when he gained access to a high school computer in 1968 at the age of 13. He spent 10,000 hours programming on it before anyone else… and the rest is history.

You have to do the time if you want to achieve any goal—weight loss, job promotion, training for a race, anything! If you aren’t willing to put in the time, how can you expect to get better? Bill Gates put in the hours on that old high-school computer, he didn’t just show up at an empty warehouse and expect things to fall into his lap.

I believe Mr. Gladwell was right about the 10,000-Hour Rule. Being able to master your craft is so important. As you start your journey of implementing a CMMS/EAM system or a maintenance excellence program, make sure you use vendors that have put in the time and have the deep domain expertise in the tools and processes your company utilizes. By working with these vendors, you can avoid the pitfalls and problems that come with a complex project. And you can take advantage of their knowledge and expertise to drive a profitable and successful project.

Until next time…We are Advoco, make every minute count.

About Marty: As a partner at Advoco, Marty is responsible for strategic direction and business development as well as ensuring the success of client initiatives. He has a deep understanding of the EAM industry and is very aware of the challenges faced by organizations today in the pursuit to drive efficiency to bottom-line performance. Always reading a business book, Marty is a business strategy guru, but when he’s not brushing up on the newest leadership trends, he’s cheering on his Clemson Tigers. Have a question for Marty? Send him an email!