I haven’t read ‘Outliers’ yet but something else I have just finished reading is Talent is Overrated by Geoff Colvin. This is a very interesting, but for me slightly unnerving, book. It is interesting because it clearly makes the point that ‘success’ in any given field is largely due to what Colvin calls deliberate (i.e. well-designed) practice. In other words talent is not genetic or God-given. This is unnerving because a) I wished I had started various things a lot earlier and b) because I have always thought (and still do) that serious talent (i.e. genius) is just something that’s in the ether (i.e. it’s either a combination of events that cannot be controlled or it’s genetics mixed with opportunity).

More precisely I agree that it is possible to master any pre-existing field or domain with enough practice (about 10,000 hours apparently — a figure that Malcolm Gladwell also uses in his new book ‘Outliers’). However, I really do believe that when it comes to inventing new domains or genres something else is at play. Maybe it’s luck. Maybe it’s imagination. Maybe we’ll never know.