Gladwell is right on. As an architect who has also invested time and effort in painting, chess, boxing, fly casting and jazz, I concluded long ago that in any of these pursuits, and I'm sure others as well, there needs to be a natural ability at the outset. Then, with a lot of hard work, one may reach the pinnacle. Without the natural ability to begin with, one will not make it to the top. But do have fun trying and never give up.

Sounds like Gladwell is espousing some thing I call secular predestination.

I agree that being born in the right "circles" is possibly the biggest advantage an artist can have, but would add that having a wealthy background also helps. For the rest, an inner conviction is what drives us on to spending 10000 hours practicing (and possibly tens of thousands of dollars). If you are not "born" to it, having the support of a wife/mother/partner makes all the difference. Someone to provide support. I know many male artists and a few women, who have reached notoriety and "success" as a direct result of having this support. The support that allows the time and space the artist needs, to experiment, to think, and to carry the word to galleries, and help with marketing your product. If this support is not there (and indeed if your partner is not convinced of your "talent") then it becomes necessary for the artist themselves to market their work. Without contacts in the right places, rejections occur again and again however "good" your work. And rejections do hurt, no matter how good you are at shrugging it off. The artist has to have a very thick skin in order to continue - this procedure in itself is destructive to creativity and many a brilliant artist falls by the wayside. What we need is more sponsorship of the order of the Medici's to enable talented artists who are not born in the right circles to dedicate their life without either turning away or becoming impoverished.

The problem with shoelacing all artforms together, is that there can be notable differences in the arts. For intance, people who are naturally born singers with a natural ear for music and are blessed with a golden voice can be great achievers. I have heard many noteable singers report in interviews that they didn't have a clue how they vaulted into fame. It just seemed to happen. They were "discovered".

Rare are the Grandma Moses's who will be vaulted into fame on the strength of discovery. For most of us, the path is stone covered and its a journey of trial and error, experience, and a lot of time study time.

Most artists, I suspect, have a modicum of innate natural talent, or they wouldn't attracted to art. But yet, there are those for whom the journey to public success is enhanced by a greater sprinkling of innate natural talent, intelligence, and being born into the home of parents who are artists.

Someone needs to tell the government, and liberals, about this. They think throwing enough money at education is the answer. Is it really possible not everyone starts out in life with equal skills? Blasphemy!!

I agree ... having extreme talent doesn't guarantee you success in life ... you need to be in the right "circles" to make it happen.

As Gladwell says, the introverted perfectionist with 10,000 hours of study that decides to reach for success, probably will not achieve it because they do not have the personality. If they do achieve it, its is probably luck.

Even worse, living in a upper class family cultivates a personality prone to succeed and getting into an ivy league university is more about personality than grades or IQ.

My inclination to rebel against all this even further proves the point. I need some Zen. Zen will rescue me.

Ah, the question: if no one sees it, is it still art?

Mr. Gladwell places success squarely into the predominant philosophy of the market economy. Doesn't mean some of what he says isn't valid. Yeah, so who doesn't know it takes 10,000 hours-- or whatever-- to get good at something you are passionate about. And, being human beings, who among us has ever accomplished anything without teaching and example? We aren't made that way.

And if "accomplishment" is an outcome of environment (and to a large extent, I believe that's true), then where are our priorities in creating that environment for those NOT born into privilege? This applies not just to art, but all the other human means of creating, including such things as fixing motors to being a gracious bank teller (neither of which I can do, but which I admire nonetheless). Isn't it about human grace and dignity as well as creativity, and where possible, making a satisfying living out of whatever we do?

"No Child Left Behind" is a sham that creates exactly the opposite environment. But somewhere in what Mr. Gladwell says, is perhaps a clue about what might really work. And it doesn't necessarily mean being born into it. Too many examples to refute this, without even a stretch. I could introduce you to many such creatively successful people right here in the tiny village I live in. No, not wealthy, but rich.

Western society (and this is expanding globally as well) creates an illusion by letting poor into Starbucks, Costco, fashion discount wearhouses and cruiseships - an illusion of wealth. In a masterful way this hides the fact that the real meaning of wealth will never be available to them - an opportunity to explore their innate talents. Poor are obligated to spend the time of thir lives on "jobs". Availability of hobbies, including the overwhelming offering of art classes and clubs only furher enhances this illusion. Is this a good thing? Is it better to live an illusion or a hard fact?

This is a really nice video about art. It's a good one to watch after reading this letter. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpunQZ4cUyI

This all comes as a real shock. I figured on growing my hair long, buying a studio on the left bank in Paris and just winging it. I kinda hoped it would just happen but oh well. That's one hour done. You know that diamond skull by Damien Hirst - I made one just like it in woodwork at school.

On the same subject, if you haven't read it already, I'm sure you would find the book Talent is Overrated by Geoff Colvin interesting. He approaches success as having little to do with innate talent and a whole lot to do with quantity of "deliberate practice", who does it, why they do it and others don't. He is a senior editor of Fortune magazine but his book applies to other fields of endeavour including the making of art. I am intrigued by the subject of "enablers" when it comes to painting. You have to go to your room and paint alone for anything to develop yet when you take that product into the big world, you get so many conflicting responses that it is hard to decide what is useful.
Even inviting critique from artists I admire doesn't offer opinions that have enough in common that I can use to improve my painting.

Thank you so much for this timely reminder. 'Tis the season for burnout, and I'd already been feeling the symptoms nudging.

Discovering art is as blind as justice is until it is spoken in courts. Art must be weighted & exhibited for it to be valued. Without pedigree art is only a mutt.

The artists that remained are those that were paid for their labor not those that were not except for the few incognito.

So, 10,000 hours is 416 days or 1.14 years. Wait a minute, I can't work 24 hours a day so at 8 hours a day that's 1250 working hours or nearly three and a half years. When I was 21 I couldn't contemplate waiting that long, or working those hours so I dropped out of University. Now, as I arrive at sixty, I am wondering if there is enough time left. One thing I have learnt: you may not have been born in the right time and place but if you wait long enough, it will probably come around.
As usual, another thought provoking piece.

Your message resonates with me once again. I am fascinated by the seemingly invisible hand that pens to me suggestions at exactly the moment I am ready to receive them! The point that 'mused' me today about the tipping point in my career as a leading edge living artist is your comment about bringing an agent in. My agent's call could be the road least traveled or an email answered, but I'll know. IMO, There isn't any cookie cutter recipe for success anymore than there is a cookie cutter recipe for the art in the first place. The convergence between artist and agent simply will be. Maybe it is confidence because I allow that seemingly invisible hand?

I believe that if you you really want to succeed you have to work at it with all that you have. My father is a great believer in doing it. He achieved his goal against all odds. He did not give up until he succeeded with what he set out to do.

How does Mr. Gladwell define these "natural advantages" by which we achieve success? While I agree with him that a succeeding virtue is 10,000 hours of diligent work in one's chosen endeavors to achieve the necessary knowledge and skills, the rest -- right time, place of birth, and parents -- sounds a little too deterministic to me. Belonging to the Depression generation, I know better. A lot of very successful folks come from that era in spite of being in the wrong time and place with very poor parents and few opportunities.

Personal success can only be defined by the individual and (in my humble opinion) cannot be fully measured by external criteria. How many people who are deemed successful in the public eye are perfectly miserable in their private lives, and their "naturally advantaged" offspring go on to create even greater disasters in their own lives? Too often, making money is equated with success while making well-considered personal choices isn't even a possibility because people don't take the time to define what make them happy (or miserable). That takes a little more than 10,000 hours.

I find nothing wrong about being obsessed if you are obsessed about the right things. It is this kind of passionate concentration that keeps you focused in spite of external factors. I am obsessed about art and love creating it. I don't need anyone to tell me I am successful or not when I am this happy. I wake up to each new day knowing that I have so many opportunities to enrich my knowledge and skills. Maybe Mr. Gladwell had this in mind when he cited moving gracefully through the world. I'm not sure. I do it without an enabler or an agent. Does that disqualify me??

Talent or not? ?10,000 hours might tell. Or not. I have no idea whether I have talent. And it is not really important to me. Everyone has a different idea of what talent means. Here is what I DO know. I HAVE to paint. It has become a big part of who I am. I am willing to work my ass off to paint and improve, and become someone who can make people feel good with my work. That is one person at a time--not groups or companies, just one person at a time. I have no fear of what it will take--the rest of my life. 10,000 hours is 8 hours a day, 2700 hours a year, 4 years. Not possible. Not true. I will take way more than that. What will it really take? Determination. Every single day of the week. All day. Consistency. Painting every day, no matter what the result. The willingness to learn from ourselves and others. It means we need to teach--ourselves and others. It means--like anything else, like plumbing, carpentry, hedge fund managing--you have do it over and over again, until you get really good at it. Does it take talent? Maybe. But I would bet my life that it takes gregarious, flexible, consistent and determined attitude--working from the inside out. AND the outside in.?

It seems in the vein of the letter I sent not long ago asking you questions about your “success.” So when Malcolm Gladwell speaks of success, how is he defining it? It is that one is seen in the world as someone who has financial wealth that is steady, a beautiful home in a beautiful location, means to afford leisure, travel, fineries in life?? Or is his definition of success about the joy of getting to do the work we love and feeling free from oppression? And how much do these go hand in hand? They do seem to overlap in a way. Artists must have support, both in the practical sense and in the monetary sense to be able to follow their bliss steadily and evolve with it. An artist needs support in order to have the time and space to muse and create. Does he address this? What are the basic tricks to this, and how much do you think the strategy varies from person to person?

This letter disturbs me. I have to wonder where this man's head is at. First of all, what is success? Is the "Contract of Fame and Fortune" where it is easy street and the road is paved with well wishers tossing cash at them and even the simplest line drawing sells for umpteen Millions really success!! PLEASE!! We all have our own levels of success. When I look at other artist's that I deem successful they all seem to say the same thing "It is just more work". Like comedians, artists are compulsive worriers, "will this read?", "will this sell?". "will people come and see?". The struggle never ends... Many artists who are what I call "Uber-talented", are often not on the path of success. Some who have been on the launch pad of global recognition either are not ready for it or just don't want it. And this bla bla bla about disadvantaged or privileged as opposed to pulling yourself up by your boot straps is all a bunch of hooey! You either want it or you don't!

And are these "Ten Thousand Hour Obsessive Compulsive Workers" any happier than the rest of us? I am astonishingly sure that at the end of our lives, nobody is looking over their shoulder and is glad they spent all those saturdays and sundays at the office. And finally at the end of the day, I have to ask where is the love? Love is where the real success is!

I have been looking all over for a (diary) notebook like yours. It looks like a small binder that has pages that can be replaced with only the word “date” written on them. Did you purchase it locally?

My world is now a lot smaller, 8'x10', a garden studio. Bought for my birthday, with love from my wife and built by one of my boys, I move in this weekend.

It will contain:
boxes full of photo reference material
my favorite easel
my grandad's 100yr old small and tall storage cabinet 40 year old sable brushes still going strong...less a few hairs my old traveling paints an old radio a bit of heating, a kettle and the whole thing wrapped inside using stretched canvas.
It's messy, smells of 'house rabbit' around the carpet edges.
It's fine and for the moment traveling without moving is very appealling

Folks, Read The Secret by Rhonda Bryne. You can be whatever you want and have whatever you want as long as you BELIEVE in yourself, have love in your heart and are GRATEFUL for what you have in life. Gladwell is an idiot. Robert, put Gladwell's writings where they belong, in the garbage and pick up a copy of "The Secret" and read it. You are usually very upbeat and inspirational and reading that idiot is bad for you.

I have never read anything by Gladwell and from reading a lot of the comments here I don't think I ever will. What I gather from all of this, Gladwell is an unequivocal snob.

While there is some truth in any thoughtful theory espoused as to why we can’t, won’t or are unable to succeed being born without wealth and being in the “right “ time and place, it goes without saying there are at least 10,000 examples to the contrary.
In a world as complex and varied as ours, examples of every kind can be found to show successes and failures that are contradictory to Mr.Gladwell’s yardstick. If we speak in generalities his findings will be more on mark. There are at least 10,000 reasons as to why these successes and failures came to be. Talent alone won’t guarantee success nor will being born with a silver spoon in your mouth. Without overstating the 10,000 hours theory, I would estimate that amount of time as a good starting point for learning any skill but won’t guarantee a successful outcome. While I do agree that success of any kind would not happen without the help of others, public worthiness does not offset the personal inner success only you can achieve whether you were born poor or in money.
A definition for true success is as varied as those striving to achieve it. The trick is to decide for yourself what success means to you strive to reach that. Some may have already found it and still don’t measure up to Mr.Gladwell’s standard. Many can be successful without notoriety or monetary gain. Many can be considered successful and still be considered poor.
For the most part I think this whole idea is an exercise in futility and also to sell a book. If we start to think in this manner while trying to measure up to any standard other than our own, we will prove Mr.Gladwell correct.
I will concede this, if I were to judge success by his standards, I would not get out of bed tomorrow for I fall into all the areas for reasons not to be successful.

What's all this baloney about "success" ?

What happened to George Bush, the CEOs of the big three automakers, the financial experts, Lehman Brothers, etc? They all had privilege and expertise. Where did that get them and this country? I will not be reading this silly book.

There are literally 1000s of examples of people who have become extremely successful following a childhood of severe hardship--even becoming leaders in their professions. I also heard the author on "on Point" and found he was quite defensive and not open to other thoughts on the subject. I suspect the writing of this book was with the hope of financial success, rather than real-life.

Some people seem to be upset about Gladwell's views. It's always enlightening to read about others opinions, even if you don't agree with them. As long as it makes you think and just take from it what you need, even his depressing theories can be interesting. In my own opinion, the word "Obsession" has a bad wrap. Having one is not necessarily a disadvantage, as long as it is constructive. And in order to be successful at anything, one needs to be obsessive about it, especially in today's highly competitive world. But it takes more than an obsession. It also takes some talent and an intuitive feel for the business world.
As far as being born to the right family, with the right connections, the best education, etc., are concerned, clearly all of those can be great advantages --- but only for those who possess the right combination of talent, obsessive desire and business sense. As long as a ghetto kid has those qualities, he or she will succeed. Cases in point: Gordon Parks, the great photographer, among his many other talents, was a ghetto kid who grew up on the streets and had absolutely no advantages. My own father, Nathan Katz, an immigrant with a high school education, no connections, and $75 in his pocket upon arriving in the United States in the 1950's, became a philanthropist and a real estate mogul in New York. Growing up under his roof, I can tell you that he was obsessed with his passion. And I learned at an early age that obsession can be a very good thing.

Hi all, for the most part I agree with the above letter, (being born in the right circles would help). But for me I think it was different.

My Dad worked hard on the railroad to provide for our family, we did not have a tv when I was a child.
Without a tv I developed a love for drawing and painting, creativity followed as a bonus.
I doubt if there are many poor kids that don't have crayons and paper, (coloring is a great baby sitter).

-------

Adding up the time spent making art (from the time I started selling) is between 30,000 and 40,000 hours, and I'm still not there yet.

After mastering their craft I think artists lack in business savy, maybe we don't look at our art right, we sometimes get attached to a painting, ect. (most doctors are lousy at business too).

Anyway, thanks again Robert for donating your time and the marketing and business informational letters.

So, 10,000 hours is 416 days or 1.14 years. Wait a minute, I can't work 24 hours a day so at 8 hours a day that's 1250 working hours or nearly three and a half years. When I was 21 I couldn't contemplate waiting that long, or working those hours so I dropped out of University. Now, as I arrive at sixty, I am wondering if there is enough time left. One thing I have learnt: you may not have been born in the right time and place but if you wait long enough, it will probably come around.

All of Robert's letters are worth reading in my opinion and I am thankful that he does NOT keep his opinions to himself. After reading most of the responses on this page. I can't help but wonder why people get so up in arms with Mr Gladwell's take on things, and then respond with a refusal to read his "rubbish". I have always enjoyed absorbing as much knowledge as possible, be it in keeping with or completely contrary to my own beliefs and opinions (probably in part due to being a self taught artist). Some information has been instrumental in bringing on some fantastic "light bulb" moments (e.g. in Robert's "working your muses" , thanks to a subscriber's click back, I believe I have pinpointed my muse - Yay!). And although I have a sneaking suspicion that alot of Mr Gladwell's opinions will do nothing more than rub me up the wrong way, I am quite certain that there could also be some valuable moments within the book that could help me along my way, and as per usual I will take on what I choose to (the good stuff that will help me get where I'm going) and discard what I consider to be of no use to me. I do believe that this approach so far for me has been very helpful in getting me closer to achieving my goals. Approach everything with an open mind, there are lessons to be learned and positive aspects to be taken even from the most depressive ramblings (even if it is only the complete relief that you are not as miserable and negative as the writer). I once made a comment in an art class (a few months after I started painting) that I wanted to become an exhibiting fulltime artist. A fellow student (twice my age) shot me down, scoffing and informing me that we may all wish to be one of those but it was not likely that I would ever be. I have never forgotten this moment or the woman with the negative attitude, and I often giggle as I sit in my studio 4 years later, because I am a fulltime, galleried artist. And no, I do not come from a privileged background, I have no art education, nor do I have any contacts with the right people, I don't even live in the right country. I just had a bit of raw talent, alot of enthusiasm (in my mind I had finally found my calling), and then I worked my but off, with obsession sitting in the chair beside me! And I am guessing that my little art friend (twice my age) is still sitting in art class taking pot shots at the newbies ;) My journey has not been full of flowers and fluffy bunnies, I have been knocked back and criticized here and there and I am certain my marketing and people skills leave alot to be desired. So, I work hard and let my paintings and the galleries do the talking for me. I have found my strengths and worked around my weaknesses, and these findings are most probably due to searching out knowledge (in books, online etc etc) and successful examples to aspire to. Its in the attitude dude!

Agree 100%. I am absolutely fried after teaching; it's hard to get the precise language that everyone will understand, especially with beginners who do not yet have the vocabulary.

And some students will just not stop talking.

A few years ago, I had two students who came together, sat together and chatted all evening. Their painting was terrible and when they asked me what was wrong, I told them that talking was left brain and painting was right brain and that it was pretty difficult to have both sides of the brain engaged simultaneously. I asked them had they ever thought on not talking? They were horrified at the thought, as it was their evening out together. It was very difficult to give them even the tiniest attention after that. They never came back and I was relieved.