I’ve been reading Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell and one of the first notions he tackles is the idea that peak performers in any field are born and not made. According to Gladwell:

“The idea that excellence at performing a complex task requires a critical minimum level of practice surfaces again and again in studies of expertise. In fact, researchers have settled on what they believe is the magic number for true expertise: ten thousand hours.”

He references studies to support this claim and points to well-known individuals who most of us consider geniuses but who became geniuses by putting in their 10,000 hours: Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and the Beatles, to name a few.

Of course, not everyone would jump at the chance to spend 10,000 hours becoming an expert—it also takes desire and determination—but the point Gladwell is making is that anyone born at the right time and raised to believe in himself or herself and alive at a time when circumstances presented 10,000 hours of practice has a chance to become a genius.

Anyone.

This relates directly to employee development. Every employee has the potential to contribute to your organization’s success. With the right training and support, every employee can become an expert in areas important to your organization. They don’t need 10,000 hours of training, but they do need training, and they don’t have to be “stars,” although they do have to be engaged in learning and growing.

Too often, organizations assume that most of their people have little to contribute beyond the expectations of their jobs, that training beyond basic skills is unnecessary, and that all the “stars” reside in executive offices. They are wasting the incalculable potential of their employees.

I’m reminded of Wainwright Industries, recipient of the 1994 Baldrige Award in the small business category with 275 employees at that time. In 1993, each of these employees implemented an average of 54 ideas for improvement!

Wainwright discovered that anyone can be a genius with the right training and support.

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