Malcolm Gladwell introduces us to the 10,000 hours rule in chapter 2. He says that certain studies have shown that individuals that master the skill set in their profession have at least ten thousand hours of practice under their belt. Gladwell also points out that you must have a supportive family that encourages you to continue to practice. Since ten thousand is such a huge amount of time it would be hard for someone to reach that time without being in some sort of special program. These special programs allow individuals to get more practice with the best equipment and the best teachers available. Gladwell isn’t saying that if you practice ten thousand hours you’re going to be a profession hockey player, the best musician in the world, or the most successful computer programmer. But that seems to be the number the most successful people in certain professions have hit before they found their stride. There is no doubt that the people he uses as examples are very talent, smart and hard working. He also points out that in order for someone to have a chance to reach such a number they need a great amount of support and encouragement from their family and or friends. Even with talent and support and encouragement the individual still needs opportunity. Opportunities are presented from the year you were born, to where you grew up, and who you know. Gladwell outlines how being born in a certain year and being a certain age helped Bill Joy and gave him better opportunity. Joy didn’t have to program with punch cards, he was able to use a time sharing system. I do agree with Gladwell that everything needs to line up perfect and one must be presented opportunity to make the most of something. There is no way to argue the research that he uses and the breakdown of the information proves his point. Even though the individuals he talks about are very smart and put in hard work to get where they’re, they still needed ten thousand hours, they still needed opportunity, and they still needed support and encouragement. But to their credit they grabbed that opportunity and made the most of it. Lots of people are given opportunities and choose to do nothing with them. So even if someone puts in the ten thousand hours and was born in the right year in the right place with a supportive family it’s still up to that individual to make the right choice and choose to capitalize on that opportunity and not just let it slip away or wait for something to be handed to them because they put in that many hours and feel that they are owed something for it.