How to be an Expert

“He wanted to learn. That was a big part of it. But before he could become an expert, someone had to give him the opportunity to learn how to be an expert.”

This quote got my attention because it summarized the author’s thoughts throughout the first couple chapters in a simple sentence. The quote is talking about Bill Joy, a brilliant computer programmer who worked hard and was rewarded with amazing opportunities. One of the major concepts of beginning of the book is opportunity, and how if you had good opportunities throughout your life, there is a high chance you will end up to be successful. Wanting to learn is also very important, generally people who want to learn work hard at what they’re doing, and the amount of work they have accumulated over the years brings them closer to what researcher call the magic number for true expertise: ten thousand hours.