Topic Teasers Vol. 67: 10,000 Kid Hours

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  Career Development   New Practitioners   Using PMI Standards  

I read in Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell that to be really successful at something, you probably have to have about 10,000 hours invested in it--and that most people start as kids. I’d like my kids to be in the project field, but I don’t really know how someone can get that many hours experience in project management or agile practices.

A. Start with your kids at a very early age and blend the logic and selection process of project management into their day-to-day life. If you are creative, it shouldn’t take much time but rather just an awareness of what you are doing.

B. Ask your local Boy Scout and Girl Scout chapters if they can offer a series of 10 project management badges. If each one takes about two weeks’ worth of work, that’s 100 hours right there.

C. Plan to send your child to summer camp for project management when other kids go off for outdoor living, theater experiences or coding instruction. Children should have made a career decision by 7 or 8 so that they can get the most background possible.

D. Children have so little time to just be kids. Don’t make any attempt to teach them anything at home; they get plenty of education and homework at school. Once they arrive home, just let them relax.

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Answer: A. Start with …

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