Comments on: Being an expert takes time, not talent

By: House Rule #10 – Practice, practice, practice « Eva Evolving

House Rule #10 – Practice, practice, practice « Eva Evolving — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 21:21:08 +0000

[...] hopeless. But why do we see talent as so black and white, so either or, so have and have not? Research has shown that experts – in any field – become that way primarily through thousands of [...]

By: My Hyperactive Pro/Con Brain Quadrant, and Why the Benefits of Blogging Outweigh My Fears «

Mon, 12 Apr 2010 00:20:13 +0000

[...] Immediate access to feedback is one of three key elements that separates experts from non-experts. No, I'm not making that up. Smart people said so in the most popular Freakonomics columns ever. (Thanks for that link, PT!) [...]

By: Jonha

Jonha — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 22:32:35 +0000

Just as practice makes perfect, I've read a book I forgot what the title is but it says that being born with talented parents increases your chances to be talented as they are but it requires constant training to keep that or to really benefit from it. The same is true with being an expert, it doesn't come instantly but something that has to be worked on constantly. This is what I've been telling in my blog that before people started listening to you, you've had more than 100 posts. Until we all reach that point, without abandoning our blog after a week of posting, then we could really say that we'rea blogger.

Jonha

By: Mark W.

Mark W. — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 00:36:49 +0000

I really liked this post along with the comments. A very interesting topic and worthy of more study.
I think of taking time to becoming an expert as being preeminent so that 1) decisions and relative comparisons can easily be made based on vast previous experience, 2) terms, concepts, etc. are so well understood that time can be spent focused on the work to be done, and 3) a well-established (professional and efficient) network of people and procedures are in place to assist if necessary.
The taking time aspect will become more critical in the future since many fields are becoming so much more complex and constantly changing at the same time.

By: Geoff Graham | Web. Copywriting. Geek.

Geoff Graham | Web. Copywriting. Geek. — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 04:07:09 +0000

[...] Just a couple days after writing about time being the necessary factor in becoming an expert at something, Trunk writes yesterday about the need to be frugal in order to achieve success: So I [...]

By: Geoff Graham | Web. Copywriting. Geek.

Geoff Graham | Web. Copywriting. Geek. — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 03:52:46 +0000

[...] look at the secret for success. It’s the same thing that has made Penelope Trunk write about what makes an expert and why Alec Baldwin has been a hot topic for Men’s Journal and Wired Magazine in the last couple [...]

By: Heather

Heather — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 01:04:51 +0000

Wonderfully thought-provoking post, but it made me a little sad. So many people who can't be experts because they didn't get the right support? I don't think we should limit ourselves by academic theories, even those from the Harvard Business Review. My daughter was told in 4th grade that she was a "kinesthetic learner". The teacher who gave her the test told her that kinesthetic learners have trouble sitting still, learning in traditional classrooms and spelling. She came home telling me she can't spell because she is a kinesthetic learner, which is ridiculous because she is great at spelling as well as learning in traditional classrooms. Sitting still – well she can sit still when she wants to. We have to be careful how we apply limiting theories!

But my main thought was: do we really want to be that much of an expert? Why? When I was in college and there was a guy in my area that was smarter than me in every way I felt like, "why bother?". I took the question to smart-guy and he said the world doesn't just need one smart person (or 10 or 1000), it needs everyone. Everyone has something to give. We would all be happier and more connected and would probably be giving more if we stopped worrying about whether we qualify as experts or not. What does it take to become an expert? — What does it take to become a lover of your art? To become someone who can share your passion and talent and inspire people to learn or think or go and do it themselves? That's more interesting to me now than becoming an expert. I have just written my own mission statement without even realizing that I felt this way! Thank you for provoking thought!

By: Jadah

Jadah — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 05:01:59 +0000

I believe every person was born with a dream for his o her life, and that dream is the kind of life you were born to love, and in order to achieve your dream, you will have to work hard, learn and practice, but since it is your dream and what you love to do, it would be just and amazing trip through life.
There is no better feeling that working on that thing you love the most.

By: Teach Your Kids About Hard Work

Teach Your Kids About Hard Work — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 13:32:03 +0000

[...] revelations and thoughts on life. She's a hell of a great writer and recently wrote about what it takes to be an expert. She came up with the same thing: It ain't talent. One interesting point she made is that to [...]

By: Dee

Dee — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 04:15:08 +0000

I totally agree with this. People nowadays want to see result fast and tend to miss out on this fact that they need time to become an expert at something that they do.

There is no point in you being talented but do not spend time to put it to practice and you will never be an expert.

Lets talk mathematics for instance, you can be talented in math but if you do not put in time to practice them, you will not be an expert. Conversely a normal student can be an expert in maths if he or she put in time and effort to practice.