The truth about craftsmanship

Practice makes perfect.Practice makes perfect.

What does it take to get good at something? About 10,000 hours of practice according to the experts.

And this is true, whether it’s playing a violin, building a house or paving a road. Of course 10,000 hours works out to five years of work, eight hours a day 50 weeks a year. 

Curiously, this is about how long apprenticeships last. Formal apprenticeships in construction trades are rare now save for electricians and union training. But if your a construction company owner or operations manager this is something you need to understand, especially if you intend to train from within. It’s a slow process.

The military has long known this. They generally realize it takes about four to five years to make a good soldier, and about 10 years to make a NCO or officer capable of leadership. There are no shortcuts, something a lot of people in this age of instant information seem to forget.