Mastery or Constant Growth?

They say it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert at anything. That works really well if you’re Serena Williams and you know the lines on the court or rules of tennis are not changing. Serena can go out there and practice the same game every day for 10,000 hours. But in business that just doesn’t work. The game is constantly changing. The rules are constantly changing. The technology is constantly changing. Our industries are constantly changing.

The fundamentals will always be there however the 10,000 hours doesn’t allow me to transfer what I’ve learned into the changing landscape of what is business. We must keep learning!

Let’s learn from Coach Mike Krzyzekwski who has served as the head men’s basketball coach at Duke University. He has led the Blue Devils to five NCAA Championships, 12 Final Fours, 12 ACC regular season titles, and 15 ACC Tournament Championships. His record is 1132 wins and 344 losses.

Every off-season Coach K. calls two or three up-and-coming coaches that he watched earlier in the season and asks to watch their practice. Imagine…one of the best coaches in college basketball wants to learn from the rising stars. Coach K. says that he learns more from the other coaches than they ever learn from him.

Even the masters are constantly learning.