Why there’s no such thing as an overnight sensation

For journalists, old notebooks can be more than a stroll down memory lane. They are also reminders of forgotten lessons.

Bestselling writer Malcolm Gladwell visited South Africa for the first time in 2009. He was invited by Discovery to headline its Leadership Summit, the most ambitious of its kind attempted here. The event has grown in stature, this year adding Ben Bernanke to a list of esteemed participants. But for me, Gladwell’s contribution five years back was the best of all.

The author of Outliers, The Tipping Point and most recently David and Goliath focused his presentation on the band Fleetwood Mac. He used the Peter Green/Mick Fleetwood creation to argue that every true success requires more than just his famous 10 000 hours of practice. Gladwell said it requires four key characteristics – Effort; Resilience; Innovation; and Persistence. Fleetwood Mac took 10 years and 15 failures before producing Rumours, which at 25 million was one of the biggest sellers of all time. Most who bought Rumours had never heard of Fleetwood Mac. To them the band was an overnight sensation. But as Gladwell argued in the Sandton Convention Centre that day, there’s no such thing. Even Mozart, my notes remind, had been composing music for 14 years before displaying true genius at an outrageously precocious age of 23.

Re-reading those notes of Gladwell’s presentation is a wonderful reminder everything that’s worth a damn, everything that’s sustainable, takes time. It’s an unbreakable natural law. One worth remembering the next time some well-intentioned jackass tries to sell us the solution to a problem they don’t yet understand.

Yesterday’s top stories:

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The brain drain has reversed – bringing skills back to SA and uplifting the nation

Why have property investors shunned agents?

Investing in India: How to ride on the back of Asia’s roaring tiger

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