Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers is filled with fascinating examples of lucky breaks, timing and background that are common to success in many fields.  Though the combinations vary by field;  passion, opportunity and persistence are common across fields.  And, a great truth was confirmed that "good enough is good enough".  Brightest does not necessarily equate to most successful.  Regardless of the pursuit, ten thousand hours of practice yields an expert.

Anyone Can Be an Expert

Malcolm Gladwell asserts that anyone can be an expert IF they invest 10,000 hours in the pursuit.  An ambitious path to expert status would come in 5 years IF the wannabe expert committed to investing 40 hours per week for 50 weeks per year for 5 straight years.  In our quest for instant gratification and flexibility, it's easy to see why authentic expertise is to be highly valued.  And it is sobering to realize what it really takes to claim expert status.