Gladwell popularizes the claim that reaching world-class expertise in a complex field takes roughly 10,000 hours of practice. The point is less the exact number than the scale: elite performers are not simply born gifted — they have accumulated an enormous, often under-appreciated amount of practice, usually enabled by circumstances that gave them the opportunity to put in those hours. (The specific figure is contested in later research, but the emphasis on practice volume endures.)
Related: Eumetry