By Praveen Chandhok
Over the years, I have often been asked what it takes to become truly proficient in a particular field or to master a skill. Is there a formula, a shortcut or some secret mantra?
We are usually advised to read books, gather information, speak to elders and experienced professionals, and participate in discussions connected with our chosen field. All of this is undoubtedly useful. Reading broadens the mind, conversations offer fresh perspectives, and guidance from experienced people can save us from making avoidable mistakes.
Today, in the age of Artificial Intelligence, information is available to us on a scale we could hardly have imagined earlier. Almost anything we wish to know can be found within seconds. AI can explain complex subjects, suggest solutions, summarise vast amounts of material and even guide us step by step.
Yet information, however valuable, is not the same as experience.
Unless we possess the will to work and the courage to apply what we have learned, all our knowledge will remain confined to books, discussions and, now, AI applications. We may become very good at offering advice, delivering sermons or repeating impressive ideas, but that does not make us masters of a subject.
Mastery begins when knowledge is put into practice. Quite simply, we learn by doing.
A chartered accountant, doctor, lawyer, architect or consultant becomes truly proficient only after investing years in the profession. Qualifications provide the foundation, but the finer nuances of any field are learned through actual situations by making decisions, dealing with uncertainty, committing mistakes and gradually developing sound judgement.
I have seen patients receive sharply different opinions on the same medical condition, sometimes even on the same MRI report. The difference may not always lie in qualifications, but in the range and frequency of cases a doctor has encountered. Repeated exposure often develops an instinct for subtleties that formal education alone cannot provide.
The difference may not always lie in education or theoretical knowledge, because most doctors undergo broadly similar professional training. It may simply be a matter of exposure. A doctor who sees ten cases of a particular condition acquires valuable experience another who has examined hundreds of similar cases may recognise patterns and subtleties far more quickly. Repeated exposure sharpens judgement in a way that no textbook alone can.
The same principle applies to every profession. A lawyer learns not only by reading statutes and judgments, but also by drafting, negotiating, appearing before courts and understanding how the law operates in real life. A chartered accountant develops judgement by examining actual accounts and resolving practical complications. An architect learns by watching plans take shape on the ground and discovering how materials, space, cost and human requirements interact.
Malcolm Gladwell, in his bestselling book Outliers, popularised the “10,000-Hour Rule” the idea that exceptional ability in any field requires thousands of hours of sustained and purposeful practice. Whether or not mastery can be reduced to an exact number, the larger point remains valid: excellence demands time, repetition, discipline and deep involvement.
Consider soldiers and police personnel. They may be trained to use weapons, assess danger and understand the psychology of an adversary. But no classroom lesson can fully prepare them for entering hostile territory, apprehending a criminal, investigating a complicated case, gathering intelligence or conducting an interrogation. Such judgement develops gradually, through real encounters and deliberate practice.
AI will continue to give us access to a world of information beyond our imagination. It can teach, assist and guide us. But it cannot undertake the journey on our behalf.
We may learn what to do from books, mentors or machines. We learn how to do it only by doing it ourselves. There is no other mantra.
(Praveen Chandhok is a proud Josephite, Entrepreneur, Socialite and Writer.)
