How long did that take you?

When we admire someone’s work, it’s tempting to ask them, “How long did that take you?” For instance, maybe you admire the way they told a story in a podcast, and you’re not certain you could dedicate the resources necessary to create that kind of episode.

Not an entirely unreasonable thing to wonder, right? Here’s why asking this question is a bit tricky, however: What “time” should the creator use to inform the answer?

Pretend they said four hours. It took four hours to create that well-crafted episode. Surely, that wasn’t the only four hours they’ve spent making projects like the one you asked about?

Okay, so back up a step: Maybe they’ve run that podcast for 15 episodes, all of which took a total of 120 hours to create. Episodes 1-14 certainly helped the creator acquire the skills and mentality needed to create Episode 15, the one you asked about, in just four hours. So how long did it take them to make that episode? All 120 hours, no? They couldn’t have made episode 15 in four hours without first making 1-14.

Okay but this podcast requires them to tell business stories. They’ve been doing that since 2008. So did making episode 15 in four hours really require them to practice telling business stories for 12 years first?

It also required writing. They’ve been writing for decades.

And thinking. And using creativity. And having empathy. And observing. And being curious.

So what’s the real answer? It’s impossible to say. Maybe: “A focused four hours on this exact episode you’re asking about, but a lifetime of everything else.”

How long did it take you to create that?

Maybe we should ask something else if we hope to receive a reply that actually changes us. Ask about the skills they benefit from. Ask about what inspired them. Ask about who mentored them. Ask about their favorite little moment inside the work — you should study that more.

Don’t ask how long it took. It’s the wrong question entirely. It’s impossible to answer, but even more so, you won’t like the truth: It took a lifetime.

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