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I love Malcom Gladwell’s writing style. He writes books that are approachable and page-turning. At the same time, I hear others and find myself referencing stories from his texts frequently in conversations. Outliers is an excellent example of this. To become a physician in academic medicine, you thrived in many academic challenges through high school, college, medical school, residency, and as a faculty member. Each phase is different from the last and provides a new set of challenges. In many ways, you are an outlier. Gladwell challenges the notion that you arrived at this position exclusively through your hard work.

Gladwell points out that opportunity is a crucial component in addition to hard work and skill. This is lost on some physicians as we plan our careers. We are asked what we “want” to be and what we “want” to do frequently. While following your passion is key. It is also important to identify opportunities.

For instance, let us say your institution has identified that it needs to improve patient engagement through mobile health. If this is interesting to you, take advantage of the opportunity. I fully acknowledge that going in, you may feel you need to be more trained. Looking for and jumping on those opportunities can be the difference between riding your career down a set of rapids with or without a paddle. Neither is easy, but attacking strategic opportunities puts you in control and allows the journey to better balance excitement and helplessness.

Another concept I appreciate is the importance of putting in the time. Gladwell references the frequently quoted metric of 10,000 hours to expertise. He points out the amount of time the Beatles and Bill Gates spent honing their craft before they got their first significant opportunities. In medicine, you are no doubt an expert in your specialty. Are you trying to build a national reputation? Are you interested in becoming a hospital leader? What about being an expert in stock or real estate investing?

This can be hard for physicians to hear, but these aren’t skills that magically appear. It would help if you put in the time. Forty hours per week for five years gets you to ten thousand hours. No one can do that in five years while working sixty hours per week in clinical practice. The flip side is that if you start now and can figure out how to get part of your effort to support that, even a half-day per week gets you on the path.

In summary, I highly recommend this Outliers for adding a self-growth perspective to physicians in academic medicine. Check out the complete list if you are interested in other book recommendations. For personal recommendations, please contact us about individual coaching options.