10,000 Hours ≠ Mastery
10,000 hours alone isn't enough to be an expert – I’ve driven over 10,000 hours but I wouldn’t call myself a “driving expert”. There are 4 pillars surrounding those 10,000 hours that are needed to bring value to the time spent. Expertise boils down to recognition; experts don't have different brains or physical differences, they're great at recognizing patterns that would happen realistically, like a Chess Master recognizing a historical game based on the position of the pieces.
1. Repeated Attempts with Feedback
Doing something 10,000 times with no feedback or constructive criticism won’t amount to much improvement. Those attempts need to be observed by someone other than yourself (ideally someone well-versed in your field of interest) so that you receive an objective perspective. The feedback loop of attempt, review, and adjust will produce a consistent improvement over time, and that snowball effect of this for 10,000 hours is what makes the difference.
2. Valid Environment
Having a valid environment to learn or practice your skill is very important. Valid environments are those that allow for a consistent experience over time, similar to a control variable within an experiment. Things like a roulette wheel or the stock market aren’t valid environments due to their randomness.
3. Timely Feedback
Going back to the feedback loop of attempt, review, and adjust, having timely feedback is crucial to this process being successful. Positions like Admissions counselors get delayed feedback because there’s a significant time gap between their decision and their results if any. This makes it difficult to improve because the feedback isn't timely enough to make changes/improvements.
4. Don’t Get Too Comfortable
When you start driving, it’s challenging and takes a lot of active focus, but after 50 hours it becomes easier and relatively comfortable. Additional hours spent driving won't improve your driving ability, you’d need to expand your comfort zone to new speeds, different terrain, or different driving conditions.