10000 hours or 10000 reps or 10000 tries?
The ‘10000 hours’ principle made famous by Malcolm Gladwell, states that to becomes exceptional at any skill / craft, one has to ‘put in the hours’. But we have also been taught that doing the same action again and expecting a different result is called stupidity. So what is the secret ingredient to mastery?
It is not 10k hours, it is not even 10k reps. It is not trying 10k new variations.
It is 10k cycles.
10k cycles of planned deliberate practice, where each cycle is just a ‘tad bit tougher’ than the previous one. 10k cycles of the creative muscle stretched just beyond the comfort level, with the guidance of a good coach, deliberately challenged in a certain planned direction. It can include some experimentation if the way forward is unclear, but once that is clear, most cycles should go in pushing the limit every so slightly. And it is a ‘cycle’ because after each iteration, the learning & feedback gets baked into the next one.
10k cycles of deliberate practice = Mastery.
p.s. This is also why startups can succeed in the face of huge incumbents. Faster cycle times can help them become masters in their niche.