Introduction: Subject Mastery: Reading the Right Books
What are your thoughts on subject mastery? Imagine this, one year from now, you are meeting with your boss when he tells you that he has to let you go because the company is changing direction and needs employees with skills different from yours. Perhaps you are losing your job because of industry consolidation? Or perhaps you own a business and have not been keeping up with the latest industry trends so you are losing customers.
What would have to happen from now to then to make you more marketable to yourself and your stakeholders (employer, customers and clients). I cannot guarantee that you won’t lose a job or customers, but if you keep your skills sharp by mastering subjects and other topics of interests by reading the right books, you increase your chances of remaining relevant.
In Malcolm Gladwell’s book, Outliers: The Story of Success
(Review), he states that it takes 10,000 hours to master a skill, which equates to 10 years. Michael Masterson – a very successful entrepreneur, internet marketer and copywriter – suggests that “To achieve mastery, you will have to continue to practice that skill for a total of 5,000 hours. Virtuosity is extremely rare. You can’t get it simply by practicing. You must also have a natural gift. Even then, you must practice at least 10,000 hours to achieve it.”
Ten thousand hours are a lot of hours, and will cause most people to stop dead in their tracks before they ever get started on mastering a new skill. Instead of thinking 10,000 hours or 10 years of practice, let’s look at something more manageable such as reading a book a week for a year. You can accelerate the process further by doing specific things that I will share later in the post. When you take control of your professional development, subject mastery doesn't have to be frightening or onerous.
Have you read?
The Precursor to How to Master a Subject
How to Fill the Information Gap, Part One
How to Fill the Information Gap, Part Two
How to Fill the Information Gap, Part Three
Steps to Subject Mastery
Very few can aspire to becoming a virtuoso, but becoming a master is achievable with extraordinary commitment and dedication.
- Conduct a Personal SWOT Analysis: Answering the questions from the Table in the article, “The Precursor to How to Master a Subject ” creates an inventory of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats, which will determine possible areas to become a subject matter expert. Develop ways to use strengths to exploit opportunities and avoid or defuse threats. In what ways could you exploit your knowledge and wisdom to create a niche market?
- Develop a well-conceived plan: What is the timeline for attaining subject mastery? With all the available tools today, one to three years is a reasonable goal. Be consistent and allocate time each week to attaining subject mastery. While I was taking courses for my informal liberal arts education, I scheduled class time from 6:00 to 9:00 am Monday to Friday. This is just an example, I do not expect you to allocate that much time. What obstacles are you likely to face that will present you from becoming a subject matter expert? Develop ways to face and overcome the obstacles if they appear.
- Create a Body of Knowledge in subject area: Immerse yourself in knowing everything about the area you would like to master.
- Read the top 10 books on the subject. And when I say read, I am using the term loosely because you may only need to read sections of the books to get what you need. At least one of the books should give you foundational knowledge if you are trying to learn a new skill or master a new subject area. Focus on only one topic at a time, to prevent overload. And as you read, take very good notes, and find new ways to apply what you are learning. For instance, you could teach the information to your colleagues, or you could write an article for the company newsletter, or you could find ways to apply the new learning to a project that you are working on. To make sure that you choose the 10 best books in your area for subject mastery, ask for recommendations – reach out to your boss, colleagues, network of contacts and a librarian at the public library.
- Pay attention to the experts in the field, which niches have they cornered. Is there a niche that you can claim? Conduct informational interviews with five experts from your industry/niche because you will accelerate the speed at which you learn, by leveraging other people’s knowledge. Be sure to ask questions about where they think the industry is heading and why.
- Subscribe to alerts such as Google and Monitter (live monitoring of Twitter feeds) to keep abreast of what is happening in the field.
- Open an account with Scoop.it, Medium and iTunes to get curated content based on your areas of interest.
- Listen to one podcast every week to enhance your knowledge in your area of interests.
- Whenever you come across important information, take notes. Review your notes once a month to cement the information into your brain.
- Work the plan: Systematically implement your subject mastery plan and make adjustments as needed. Seek opportunities to test your level of mastery through presentations, workshops and seminars, quietly building a name and reputation.
- Analyze: Make disparate connections among seemingly unrelated data in the Body of Knowledge. Connect the big ideas from the books you read, the podcasts that you listen to, and from all the other sources of information.
- Evaluate: Has your level of understanding, knowledge, insights and wisdom in the subject increased?
- Rework the plan if necessary.
Have you read?
Taking Better Notes – Learning to Abbreviate Words
To Remember More of What You Read, Take Notes by Hand
Tips on Note-taking: The Art of Writing While Listening
Final Thoughts: Subject Mastery: Reading the Right Books
In another post, I will drill down further into the steps to subject mastery so that you have a road map to follow. I can use myself as a case study since I have been working on an informal liberal arts education for more than a year. I know what it will take to set yourself up for success.
#GIRLBOSS
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