The Invisible Mentor

Posts Tagged ‘Malcolm Gladwell’

This is what we talked about on The Invisible Mentor Blog this week: Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwel, Black History Month – Madam C J Walker, Operated the Largest Black-Owned Business in the Early Twentieth Century, and Carol McManus, America’s LinkedIn Lady.

Adventures in Learning

I frequently talk about mentoring occurring in moments, and this was evident at mediabistro’s Socialize Toronto conference last Friday. Profound conversations can take place over seconds and minutes. By watching conference attendees you could tell by the look on their faces that it was worth their time to attend the conference.

Mentoring in Moments at Socialize Toronto 

Booked for Mentoring

I have been reading Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell for over two months, and it’s the first time I have ever taken so long to read a book that I actually enjoyed. I have read at least 20 other books during the two months, but I needed a lot of time to digest and process what I was reading in Outliers. When you hear about Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers, the first thing that often comes to mind is that it takes 10,000 to master a subject. However the book is so much more than that.

Booked for Mentoring: Review – Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell

Wisdom of Life Profile

This month is Black History Month and we will start off with Madam C J Walker, and follow up with other profiles of people who contributed to black history. Madam C J Walker took her $1.50 in savings and turned it into a $117,000 business in eight short years – the next year she was a featured speaker at the National Negro Business League Conference. It is worthy to note that Madam Walker was able to send her daughter to college from the money she made as a laundress.

Black History Month – Madam C J Walker, Operated the Largest Black-Owned Business in the Early Twentieth Century 

Interviews for Mentoring

This week we featured Carol McManus, America’s LinkedIn Lady. Some of the biggest messages from the interview are the importance of having sponsors, mentors, and being open to opportunities. Here are Part One and Part Two of Carol McManus’ interview.

Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right hand side) by email or RSS Feed.

Book link is affiliate link.

I have been reading Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell for over two months, and it’s the first time I have ever taken so long to read a book that I actually enjoyed. I have read at least 20 other books during the two months, but I needed a lot of time to digest and process what I was reading in Outliers. When you hear about Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers, the first thing that often comes to mind is that it takes 10,000 to master a subject. However the book is so much more than that.

According to Gladwell, “This book is about outliers, about men and women who do things that are out of the ordinary….People don’t rise from nothing. We do owe something to parentage and patronage. The people who stand before kings may look like they did all themselves. But in fact they are invariably the beneficiaries of hidden advantages and extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies that allow them to learn to work hard and make sense of the world in ways others don’t.”

Cover of Outliers: The Story of Success

Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell demonstrates to readers why some people succeed, while others fail even though both may put in 10,000 hours. Other elements are critical for success, it’s simply not only about putting in the hours and working hard. When I just started reading Outliers, I wrote the post Do Big Breaks, Mentoring, and Hard Work Equal to Success? to explore the idea. Gladwell says that to be successful, on top of hard work, you also have to get opportunities. For instance, Bill Gates worked hard writing computer programs, but he also had access to a computer which most people didn’t, which gave him an advantage, and then he also had the opportunity to use those programming skills.

Ingredients of Success

• Passion
• Talent
• Hard Work
• Opportunity
• Arbitrary Advantage

What’s this 10,000 hours that people are talking about?

Researchers have shown time and time again that to become excellent at mastering complex tasks requires 10,000 hours of hard practice. And the most successful people got the opportunity they needed to learn how to become an expert. For instance, The Beatles got numerous opportunities to play in clubs to accrue their 10,000 hours.  They recognized the opportunities and accepted them.

In addition, there were many transformative moments in history that helped to make millionaires, and timing was everything. For example, the industrial era in the United States, which was pre and post the American Civil War in the 1860s and 1870s, people like John D. Rockerfeller, Andrew Carnegie and Marshall Field were able to capitalize on that. Another transformative era was the personal computer revolution, which people Bill Gates and Bill Joy capitalized on.

Given all that has been mentioned, to be successful, work has to be satisfying because you’ll likely put in the necessary hours to gain expertise. There are three elements for satisfying work – autonomy, complexity, and a connection between effort and reward.

One thing that I had never thought much about, which the book gave prominence to is that “it matters where you’re from, not just in terms of where you grew up or where your parent grew up, but in terms of where your great-grandparents grew up and great-great-grandparents grew up…” It’s interesting that I have always been able to accept ambiguity, and I learned in Outliers that’s because of my Jamaican heritage.

A big takeaway from Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell is that, say for instance you are a surgeon, you have to understand what it really means to be a good surgeon, “when we understand how much culture and history and the world outside of the individual matter to professional success – then we don’t have to throw up our hands in despair…We have a way to make successes out of the unsuccessful.” And you can learn to remove cultural barriers that prevent you from being successful and living up to your true potential.

Five Great Ideas

1. Success is the result of “accumulative advantages.”
2. Success simple isn’t a function of individual merit, and the world in which we grew up in; and the rules we choose to write as a society does matter.
3. Success is a function of persistence, doggedness and willingness.
4. To become successful you have to master the art of standing up for yourself, and learn how to navigate systems and bureaucracies.
5. Power distance, which is concerned with attitudes toward hierarchy, specifically with how much a particular culture values and respects authority, plays a role in professional success.

I recommend world Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell. However, to get the most from the book, you have to allocate the time to reflect and contemplate on what you are reading. Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right hand side) by email or RSS Feed.

Book link is affiliate link.

Big Breaks + Mentoring + Hard Work = Success?

I am reading Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers: The Story of Success and it got me thinking about interviews that I have conducted, so I decided to explore an idea. I have only read a third of the book so far, but when you ask most people about Outliers, they’ll mention 10,000 hours to become an expert at a craft. But from what I have read so far, hard work doesn’t equal success, you also need opportunities and talent.

I have taken five of The Invisible Mentor interviews that I have published on the blog, and extracted the responses to big breaks, mentor influence, and steps to success. As you read the responses, what ideas and thoughts come to mind? Are there ways you can create your own opportunities if you haven’t had your big break as yet?

Name: Patty DeDominic

Big Break: Thirty years ago, one of our neighbours in business brought us a request for proposal to do business with the local government and they said they were not going to bid on the small contract, and asked us we would like to bid on it, that was a big break for us. That got us started with government contracting and opened up a new world of a certain type of customer, which over the years I did many millions of dollars worth of business with the government – the city, county, state, national government.

Mentor Influence: y father being a very successful business person, and my mother being a wonderful homemaker, and active community volunteer. They mentored me, and taught me the value in volunteer work, always trying to line your head and your heart and making sure that your values are not compromised by making a living. I had other business mentors, from early bosses and friends who helped and advised me on buying real estate. When I married my husband 25 years ago, he was more experienced than I in different kinds of businesses so he helped to mentor me in regard to some of the systems he used when he worked for multinational corporations so I’ve been very fortunate to receive many coaching opportunities and mentors along the way.

Steps to Success: There were many: I had to study, I had mentors, I had to believe that I could do it, I had to experiment and practice, make mistakes and learn. So those are the steps – it’s conceive, believe, receive, and achieve. Being grateful is an important part of being successful. I think you must be grateful for the things you have that you have been given.

Name: Kamel Hothi

Big Break: I would say my biggest break was from my line manager going back three lines ago, a gentleman by the name of Arif Mushtaq. He was parachuted in from another company into Lloyds Bank. I encountered him when I was setting up the effort for the Ethnic Minority Network, and he was the one who sponsored the event. It was great to meet Arif. When we started discussing the event and he heard some of my views and ideas he really encouraged me to take a risk. He had faith, he saw something in me that I suppose other people didn’t see, so that encouraged me to take a risk from the position. Yes I could have lost my job. He gave me a blank sheet of paper and said he would support me, and to be honest, that empowerment was the best gift I have ever had. It increased my confidence and since then I have never looked back, so I’m really grateful to Arif.

Mentor’s Influence: I have had a number of mentors I would say, and some were good and some were bad. Most were not what you call formal mentors in the beginning, but certainly people who you admire who you see can add value in different ways. My mother was a huge mentor to me, she helped me to shape my personal life, helped me to focus on the core things to look at, how to overcome when things are not quite going right. And at work, Arif Mushraq was a huge mentor to me, he helped me, and he understood what other people thought were weaknesses, were strengths and he had a real influence on my career.

Steps to Success: For me, it was really understanding the psyche of what’s in it for me. That’s very cynical, selfish thinking, but that’s how people tend to live in the corporate world. It’s using that thinking and putting it into my strategy. When we were building the Asian strategy, it was very much what’s in it for them, what’s the business case, what would they achieve, would they pay attention? So once you can show them what the case looks like and get their juices flowing, then it’s mapping that out and how it can be realized. That’s what I would say is what I have done in my field.

Name: Runa Magnusdottir

Big Break: I’ve had so many! I’ve been so fortunate to have so many big breaks. There has always been a woman who stood behind me, who helped me. If I go back in time, when I was about 20 years old, the private secretary for the Minister of Culture and Education in Iceland who was a woman, gave me a huge break. She appointed me to help out with computerizing the ministry. That was a huge break. Another huge break was when my mother asked me to join her company which I later bought. And that was definitely a huge break in my life. And I can name so many that have come to me and it has always been women who gave it to me.

Mentor’s Influence: The idea behind mentors in Iceland is a fairly new thing so I had to think outside the box when it came to mentors. I would say overall in my life my biggest mentors were my parents. In my adulthood, and how they did it was feeding me with information, and talking openly about life and that the thing I think mentors in my mind has influenced me is to be open and to listen to other people’s views that has been my biggest learning point from mentors.

Steps to Success: The steps I took to succeed in my field were to do a lot of personal development, and find out what was important to me. I think it’s important for everyone to find their purpose.

Name: Nadja Piatka

Big Break: My first big break was getting the account for McDonald’s, and that was selling my low fat muffins to them. And I got to be good friends with the CEO and he grew to be a really great mentor to me. But it was starting as someone coming to them in a regional office with my idea, my low fat muffins, and finally getting to head office. It was a process, but it was through believing and having the best product out there and not thinking that what I was doing was impossible. Though later, the CEO of McDonald’s said that generally it’s a slam door policy and I had a better chance of winning the lottery.

Mentor’s Influence: I really believe in mentors, whether you are a mentor or mentoree. We grow and we really need to have other people’s experiences. I have always belonged to a group of women called the Equinox, and it’s just a cluster of women that we formed in Calgary. We are businesswomen who meet once a month, have dinner and share our challenges, our successes, anything that we can talk about freely and confidentially amongst ourselves. That was such a beneficial experience that when I moved to the United States, to western New York, I formed a group of women. We call ourselves the Equinox and continue to meet once a month for dinner and just share our experiences, our businesses, personal, whatever there is to talk about. We take turns to tell everyone how we are doing and it’s a great thing to do because sometimes when you are an entrepreneur it can be a solitary occupation. The mentors I have gathered around me or mentor to, have been really great. Also, I find in my consulting business it allows me to mentor, and again I feel there is so much for you to learn from everyone around you.

Steps to Success: Because I didn’t have the resources to go the easier route, the first step was to start small in my kitchen. I would get up in the morning at 4 o’clock and start baking and I would sell to little coffee shops in the city I lived in.

After I was on the Oprah show people contacted me because they had this product, this idea, and they would give it to friends and family for free and everybody loved it. But when you are giving things away for free you don’t have a neutral or unbiased focus group. You have to test the market with your product, and have people who are willing to buy it, and buying it more than once, then you have a product that the market will sustain.

If you’re just depending on friends and family, if they like it, it really isn’t a true sense of what the market will do in this very competitive business that we’re in. And every business has to have the ability to rise above everyone else’s, so what I did was tested it in the field with smaller shops, and then grew from there. That is one of the ways that I would recommend to people is to find out if the market will sustain their products.

A lot of people have an idea, they have a product that they want to get out to the market and they spend an awful amount of money on the packaging. By the time you have something that you haven’t even sold, I see people have put hundreds of thousand of dollars into a product before they have even sold one dollar of it. There are ways to do that without such a huge investment with your product and I try to advise people that there are ways to do that. There are many steps to be successful in your field and one of the biggest steps is controlling and having a handle on how much money you’re spending. I’ve seen people run out of money before they made one sale.

Name: Annemie Ress

Big Break: I have never really planned anything and things usually just happen, but the biggest opportunity I had was being asked if I wanted to work in Switzerland by a professor I was studying with, and saying, “Yes, that would be great,” not thinking for one second that I’d get the job. He obviously had more confidence in me than I did in myself and the next thing I knew I was on a plane and working in Switzerland. That’s my biggest break, having someone have faith in me. I had no international experience, I was South African, and had never worked abroad, but had someone believe in me and that has opened doors for me to work globally.

Mentor’s Influence: My mentors have taught me the amazing power of powerful questions, and how you don’t necessarily need to guide by telling, but that wonderful things can happen if you’re open to asking questions and always thinking that you don’t have all the answers but that by asking powerful questions in a given circumstance you can unlock many possibilities.

Steps to Success: Relationships and sponsorships and being authentic. It’s about building meaningful relationships with key opinion makers and stakeholders at all levels in your organizations. It could be with the person who brings you your coffee in the mornings, if you work in that type of environment. Or it could be with the security guard who is at the entrance when you come in to work, or the president of the corporation. But it’s not just about the relationships, it’s also about celebrating the uniqueness in the other person and really connecting with them authentically. In my environment that’s the one thing I’ve tried consistently to do because it builds trust, integrity and respect and that stands you well in both good and bad times.

From what you have  read, does Big Breaks + Mentoring + Hard Work = Success? Tomorrow we will look at five men.

How can you use this information? What do you have to add to the conversation? Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right hand side) by email or RSS Feed.

Further Reading

Patty DeDominic Interview (Part I), (Part II)

Kamel Hothi Interview (Part I), (Part II)

Runa Magnusdottir Interview (Part I), (Part II)

Nadja Piatka Interview (Part I), (Part II)

Annemie Ress Interview (Part I) (Part II)

Here is Part Two of Diana Gallo’s interview. I learn so much from each interview that I conduct, and this one is no different. After you’ve read both parts of the interview, what are your five takeaways? What information can you use right away. Pay attention to Diana’s advice to someone wanting to start out in her field. Even though the information is about social media, the advice is valid for any field.

There are many times in life when you see information that’s not related to your field so you devalue it, but never do that because you may find the next great idea for your business. I interview people from different walks of life to give you a breadth and depth of knowledge. Our journey together is to become smarter.

Tell me a little bit about yourself.

I’m very passionate about what I do which is a good thing. I am in the digital media space both interactive and social media. Outside of that, I love movies and music and I try to see as many films and attend as many concerts as I possibly can. While I am very independent and have difficulty asking for help which at times does work against me – and see career as very important, I love my boyfriend (who I live with) and respect and appreciate all his support. He, family and friends are very important to me. I love Toronto, though if I had to live anywhere else, New York City and London, England would be my choice, they are my two favourite cities, and would probably move in a heartbeat if the opportunity allowed it. My addictions would be coffee and magazines, I love reading magazines. I am a kid at heart and regardless of my age I try to keep that. I think people sometimes take things too seriously.

What are three events that helped to shape your life?

A few years ago my dad fell really ill, he is feeling great now, but at the time it was one of the reasons that I had to say no to that trip to England. It made me realize the importance of not only family, but of taking care of yourself. Without your health you cannot do the things you want to do and from that, to never hold a grudge because you never know what can happen, and it might be too late for an apology.

I moved out a decade ago and refused to rent so I decided to buy right away not even having the funds to do it, but creatively found a way to do so. But what the experience taught me was true responsibility and it shaped me quickly. I grew up overnight.

The death of my grandfather was another event that helped to shape my life because he was my best friend. I was about 12 years old when he died. He told me stories and was always that person who I could lean on. He is the one that got me to love history. He had a way of teaching me how to stand up for myself without talking back to my parents. He was my “everything” and when he passed away it took a lot out of me. And it was also the first time that I dealt with death in a real way. I didn’t cry because I didn’t know how I was supposed to react to his death.

How do you integrate your personal and professional life?

Part of what I do in my professional life is work in a social media space. When I’m at home, I continue that but on my personal profile. During the day it’s a way for me to communicate with end-users, our movie goers, but in the evening it’s the way I stay engaged with my friends.

What’s a major regret that you’ve had in life?

There was a period in my life when I didn’t appreciate what I had, and looking back I had it really good. I didn’t have the right to complain or feel as bitter as I did. So I regret not appreciating my accomplishments and the things that were happening around me as much as I should have.

What are five life lessons that you have learned so far?

1. The best leaders are the ones who empower their team so they can perform their jobs successfully and give them opportunities to flourish
2. Appreciate every day as if it’s your last
3. Regardless of who the person is, don’t undermine them because everyone has something to offer
4. Don’t go to sleep angry because it could be your last
5. Listen and act on what you’ve heard

When you have some down time, how do you spend it?

I’m online, and in the last couple of years I have spent a lot of time catching up on my favourite television shows, and a lot of them happen to be either on Showcase or HBO. I also listen to a lot of music, watch a lot of movies and read a lot of magazines. A lot of these activities happen by myself, or with my boyfriend, or with friends and family

What process do you use to generate great ideas?

I put on my iPod and listen to music and have a doodle pad. I don’t know if the music influences, inspires or triggers something. That for me is the best way for me to generate great ideas.

What’s your favourite quotation and why?

It changes and part of what I do on Facebook is to change them according to how I feel. I think the one that I’ve got that’s been top of mind for a while now is “I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it,” by Pablo Picasso. The first time that I read this quote I thought, don’t ever fear trying something new, it’s exciting to try something new because it’s the only way you can learn about what you don’t know because if you continuously do what you do best, the things you already know, are you really learning? And my favourite quotes change depending on the stage that I’m at in my life.

How do you define success?

You define success by what it means to you. Sometimes I define success because there are measurable metrics in place and if each one of these metrics is met, then success has happened. But most of time, even if those metrics are met, I ask myself if I did the best that I could have done, and it’s about how I feel. So if I feel really proud, and really good about what I did, for me that’s success on a personal front. If it’s a team effort, which a lot of times it is, if the people around me who worked on the project feel the same way, then that too is a success. I think it’s the measurable, and how I feel, and that could be very different from the measures themselves.

In your opinion what’s the formula for success?

In terms of defining success I believe in setting realistic goals and timelines, so if I want to achieve a goal, I want to make sure that it’s very realistic because I’ll disappoint myself if I don’t. Break down your goals into smaller components, so instead of achieving this one goal that seems impossible, which may or may not be, if you achieve each one component independently, all collectively for that end goal whatever that is, it makes for a better formula in terms of how to achieve success. I think a lot of the time what happens is that we try to attain something that is really impossible and if we think it’s impossible we start worrying about it and get overwhelmed and never meet it and are always disappointed. So I think sometimes it’s simply a matter of breaking it down and say I’m going to do this.

What are the steps you took to succeed in your field?

A lot of it was really about understanding what’s happening in the field. I am immersed in what I’m preaching so I’m always in the social media and online space talking to people, reading articles to keep me on top of what’s happening and questioning the things that I don’t know.

What advice do you have for someone just starting out in your field?

For anyone starting out in the social media space before they take the plunge and say, “I want to be a social media ‘something’,” they should participate in the space and see if it’s something that they really want to do. They have to really understand it because they are going to have to practice what they preach.

They should also speak to people at various level who are in that space, so they can talk to community managers who are posting and engaging with the users, speak to someone that’s doing the strategy for social media, and speak to people who are using social media in very different ways. They should speak to some people on a personal front, some on a professional front and it could even be someone in a not-for-profit, because for some people, social media is a way to raise awareness for a good cause. They have to really understand how social media can be used, then step back and see if it’s something that they are really interested in doing and at what capacity. And I think they won’t know until they have talked to people and immersed themselves into it.

If trusted friends could introduce you to five people that you’ve always wanted to meet, who would you choose? And what would you say to them?

Sorry if I sound shallow, but there are certain celebrities that I’d like to talk to. I’d like to speak to:

Trent Reznor from Nine Inch Nails

I’d say I love his music, but the big one for me would be how he feels about what he has done for the music industry. He said “FU” to the middleman, which is pretty much the music labels and said I’m going to reach my audience directly, I don’t need you to interfere and he engages with his audience and gives them what they want, and that’s what is making him so successful. I want to know when there was a turning point for him, when he said to himself,” I don’t need or want the music label, I want to give my audience access to my music, I want to engage with them because they are the ones who come to my concerts, the ones who are passionate about my music and I want to give them what they want.”

Johnny Depp

I love Johnny Depp as an actor, he is an amazing actor, but he has the knack for taking on really different roles and exceed at those roles regardless of how the movie does, so I’m curious about how he does that. I find that quite amazing and it shows talent and adaptability.

Martin Scorcese

I would say, thank you for making such fantastic films throughout the year – and continue to do so. Your passion, dedication and talent are obvious in all your pictures; it’s no wonder every actor wants to work with you. Tell me something: what drives that passion and what is it about Leonardo that makes you want to work with him every time?

Steve Jobs

For Steve Jobs, I’d say, with all the success you’ve had to date – yeah with some hiccups along the way – the innovation seen in the products launched, and so on, what is it that keeps driving you, Apple, to develop the products you do? I would like to believe that as a multi-millionaire, it isn’t all about the money.

Ivanka Trump

A great role model for young business women. You might be thinking why, i.e. she was born into money etc. Well, she is a smart business woman who has proven that she can run a business, has the drive and smarts to do so, without always depending on her dad, Donald.

Let’s face it, she may have it easier than you and I, but she could have just chosen the path to do nothing and just enjoy the family riches Iike Paris Hilton and others. You don’t see her name on tabloids, entertainment gossip shows. If there is one ‘celebrity’ that a young woman wanting to get into business should look at, I would say she’s one.

I would ask her the following:

• I believe she wrote a book for young women starting out and wanting to succeed – how is the book doing, why did you decide to write it and have you received any feedback from readers – both positive or negative?

• Are your business smarts, drive all a product of her DNA, who she was born to and upbringing or is this something she really is interested in, something she wanted to do.

Which one book had a profound impact on your life? What was it about this book that impacted you so deeply?

The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell, which is a fantastic book that really makes you think about change and how it can happen so quickly and unexpectedly. Gladwell talks about social epidemics and then goes into explaining these. Another one is Anthem by Ayn Rand which was about not losing sight of individuality, and that the collective is not necessarily the best way to go. You as an individual should not be dominated by the collective thought. This was an amazing book which really impacted me and I’m a big believer in you as an individual first and foremost. And I don not mean this in the context of working in teams, I’m talking about collective thought versus you as an individual having your own thought. You can be persuaded by others, you can agree with others, but you should have your own thought.

If you were stranded on a deserted island, what are five books that you would like to have with you and why? Summarize the book in two sentences.

1. Anthem, Ayn Rand
2. Catcher in the Rye, J D Salinger
3. Touching From a Distance, Deborah Curtis
4. Any edition of Calvin and Hobbes

What one music CD and movie would you like to have with you (on the deserted island) and why?

The music CD would be Nick Cave’s Murder Ballads and the movie would be Say Anything.

YouTube Video of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Red Right Hand

If you cannot view the YouTube Video of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds click here.

YouTube Video Say Anything Movie Trailer

If you cannot view YouTube Video Say Anything Movie Trailer click here.

What excites you about life?

What keeps me excited about life is just learning. There is so much that I could still be doing, and there is so much that others could be doing, and that is exciting for me knowing that there is so much out there. I get off by seeing people happy and I mean genuinely happy, not just being content and settling.

How do you nurture your soul?

It’s sitting back, reading and listening to music. I can’t stress enough how important music is to me.

If you had a personal genie and she gave you one wish, what would you wish for? Or, if I gave you a magic wand, what would you use it for?

If I had one wish, there are a bunch of kids at Sick Kids Hospital who might die within one week, or they may have three months, but it’s not a long life and my wish is to grant them their wishes.

Complete the following, I am happy when…..

I’m happy when I accomplish things. Happiness is contagious, so when I see someone happy, I’m happy even if I do not know why they’re happy.

Let’s keep the conversation flowing, please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right side) by email or RSS Feed.

All book links are affiliate links.

Are you trying to master a subject? If you answered yes, mastering any subject matter takes a commitment of anywhere from 5,000 to 10,000 hours (Read the article Did Malcolm Gladwell Rip Me Off? by Michael Masterson), depending on which statistics you decide to believe. To begin the process of mastering a subject, answer the questions below. While you are reading the books identified at the library, record the information in the Subject Mastery Template. This information is taken from The Invisible Mentor Toolkit.

How to Read to Master a Subject

1. Describe the specific knowledge that you are trying to acquire
2. On a blank sheet of paper do a brain dump for 15 minutes, writing down as much as you know about the topic
3. List the pioneers and subject matter experts in the field. Have they written any books on the subject?
4. Compile a bibliography of books that could potentially help to master the subject?
   1. List books written by pioneers and subject matter experts
   2. Check the bibliography of books written by pioneers and subject matter experts
   3. Ask colleagues for book recommendations
   4. Check the bibliography of scholarly journals and books on the topic
   5. Search the catalogues, or ask a librarian at a good reference library to find titles
5. Spend half a day at the library inspecting[1]the books listed in the compiled bibliography to:
   1. Whittle down the number of titles on the list
   2. Get a cursory understanding of the topic
   3. Determine which  books say anything important about the topic of interest
6. With a cursory understanding of the subject:
   1. Identify the 10 core concepts/ideas that form the basis of the subject
   2. Clarify the information that you are seeking. Distinguish between ‘must know’ and ‘nice to know’
   3. How will you know when you have found the answers?
7. Inspect the books identified as relevant
   1. Find the most relevant passages and record page numbers
   2. By author, record the information that covers each of the 10 core concepts/ideas (Refer to the Subject Mastery Template)
8. Read and analyze all the information gathered
   1. Distill the information germane to the subject
   2. Compare and contrast the information on each of the 10 core concepts/ideas
   3. Interpret the 10 core concepts/ideas
   4. Concentrate on understanding the core concepts/ideas
9. Search online for a site that offer tests on the subject and take the test

[1] Refer to How To Read A Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading to find out how to quickly inspect a book.

Subject Mastery Template

Title of the Book/Author

Why is Author Qualified to Answer?

Key Concept 1

Documentation/Page Found

Key Concept 2

Documentation/Page Found

Key Concept 3

Documentation/Page Found

Key Concept 4

Documentation/Page Found

Key Concept 5

Documentation/Page Found

Key Concept6

Documentation/Page Found

Key Concept7

Documentation/Page Found

Key Concept8

Documentation/Page Found

Key Concept9

Documentation/Page Found

Key Concept10

Documentation/Page Found

Conclusions by Authors

What are the Weaknesses of the Authors’ Arguments, Evidence and Conclusions?

Special Notes

And whatever you learn, be sure to teach it to others so that you can cement the information into your memory. Let me know what you think about the questions.  I am committed to assist you on your professional development journey. If there are additional ways that I may be of service please let me know.

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Related Articles

The Precursor to How to Master a Subject
How to Fill the Information Gap
How to Fill the Information Gap Part Two
How to Fill the Information Gap (when you don’t know there is a gap) Part Three

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