Freaks and Geeks.

In 1962 the Beatles broke into the Top 40 and they were hailed as freakish overnight sensations. No one outside of Liverpool knew who they were, no one knew if they could sustain the quality of music they showed up with and no one knew the influence they would have over music the next 50 years. The IPO for Microsoft in 1986 saw a few billionaires like Bill Gates and Paul Allen created, along with the establishment of 12,000 millionaires. They were seemingly created overnight with the Microsoft Windows operating system, which was to become the standard platform for the world's computers for decades to come. Surprisingly neither the freakish musical geniuses or the newest geeks, were overnight successes.

Before that first venture into the Top 40, the Beatles spent years on the club circuit honing their skills, sometimes playing the Hamburg clubs for months on end, in 8 gruelling sets a day. By the time they hit the studio for "Love me do", they had amassed over 10,000 performances, something artists of today would struggle with, even with the required amount of drugs. Bill Gates spent most of his formative youth sneaking into computer labs testing his MS Dos language and continued to amplify his skills, eventually founding Microsoft with Paul Allen in 1975. From 1975 to 1986 they worked at refining their systems, testing their platform to eventually to end up at the successful IPO.

Malcolm Gladwell in his seminal 2008 tome, "Outliers", looked at many examples of so called overnight successes and came up with his own version of success attributable to a a long period of activity within a speciality craved by those individuals and groups alike. Gladwell theorised it took a minimum of 10,000 hours of practice to get to the highest level of proficiency, regardless of industry or sector, be it business, music or sport. The Beatles with their 10,000 gigs before hitting it big and Bill Gates spending 10 years before becoming the world's favourite geek are examples that resonate with Gladwell.

Many today argue that time has become compressed via the net and the myriad of social sites, allowing instant global recognition and giving people the opportunity to become overnight successes without the need for those 10,000 hours of practice. If that were the case, why do so many disappear just as quickly as they arrived? The need to become proficient has never been more important and I'm not sure the shortcuts people see on the net and the social landscape will hold up if they don't have the background they say they have.

Over night success today, is often about brief recognition or notoriety given by the new media avenues and brings with it a feeling that short cuts are accepted. A YouTube video downloaded by a few million people doesn't translate into longevity and does not replace the knowledge and skills required to sustain longevity when it comes to success, especially within the business world. Business today is still about long term relationships, a base of knowledge that is acknowledged by your partners and if you have been diligent, 10,000 hours of practice in your chosen field.

If you are looking to work with professionals, don't look for quick imitations of the real deal, look for the practiced, the authentic and if you want people to seek you out, think how many of those 10,000 hours you have completed? From the freakishly talented to the geekishly innovative there are no shortcuts to success.