The Outliers

People who make the very top of their skill don’t work harder than everyone else; they work much, much harder than everyone else.

It appears that 10,000 hours of purposeful practice is required for mastery in anything. Generally that’s done in about a ten year span.
-Acquiring 10,000 hours of purposeful practice by adulthood requires one to be a part of a special program or by extraordinary opportunity. A kid just can’t get 10,000 on their own efforts.

Many of the very successful were born at the right time. There are certain windows in history where significant events offer significant opportunities.

IQ’s above 120 have very little advantage in real world achievement. Up to an IQ of 120 has some advantage, but above that 120 mark, everyone is smart enough to excel equally.
Above the 120 IQ threshold, other aspects impact real world success: Creativity, divergent thinking, hard work, etc.

Practical intelligence is knowing how to do something without always knowing why or being able to explain how to someone else. It is knowledge to use, not knowledge for knowledge sake. It includes social knowledge.
IQ and practical IQ are not orthogonal. (one does not guarantee the other)
Fifty percent of IQ is heredity, but 100 percent of practical IQ is environmental – usually from the family.

There seem to be two styles of child rearing:
1. concerted cultivation – an effort to monitor and coach a child’s interests, skills, and opinions; developing a child’s ability to secure their rightful place socially (they shape their world)
2. accomplishment of natural growth – an effort to care for their children but let them grow and develop on their own (the world shapes them)
All other factors being the same, practical IQ is the big separator, and “concerted cultivation” develops social IQ.
Poor families raise their children by “accomplishment of natural growth”. Upper income families raise their children by “concerted cultivation”.

Three qualities required to make work satisfying:
1. autonomy – your future is in your hands
2. complexity – challenges requiring creativity
3. reward – as a result of your hard work
Humble origins with entrepreneurial parents are breeding grounds for children with high practical IQ’s.

Key factors in the very successful:
1. 10,000 hours at adulthood
2. upbringing – good school, parental models
3. timing of events – world conditions, “lucky” breaks, etc.
4. smart enough (120 IQ)
5. culture standards – sleep, language, manners, social dictates, etc
6. take advantage of opportunities when they are presented