The Outliers is a outside the box look at success. If you have read Freakonomics or Super Freakonomics you can see some of the similarities of how Malcolm Gladwell takes data that is seemingly unrelated and makes some semblance of sense to it all. My friend Tim gave this book a great soundbite. "The biggest point in there is how seemingly unrelated sequences and coincidences can lead to unexpected outcomes." That puts it well after you have read it.
Gladwell takes you down a path to look at success and the reasons for it can sometimes be associated with environment, chance and personal will. This book fits well with my Success formula. Success = Knowledge + Luck + Hard Work. The less you have of one, the more you need of the other 2. It also brings to the table the idea of success. What is it. Is it simply measured by monetary means? I can't believe people can be that short sighted, but we are in a fallen world filled with people that simply seek self.
The following are some of my notes from this book.
Outliers definition:
1. something that is situated away from or classed differently from a main or related body
2. a statistical observation that is markedly different in value from the others of the sample
Hockey players that are born at the beginning of the age cutoff have a higher chance of success on the ice, simply due to being slightly older than other kids? The data shows it to be true. Seems nuts, but when coupled with the 10,000 hour rule, it makes a little more sense.
Amazing the chance opportunities that Bill Joy(Sun) and Bill Gates had as young kids. They both had unlimited access to a computer before many people knew what they did. By the time they started their businesses they had logged 10,000 hours of programming time. More than about anyone else around. It is almost no wonder they were successful.
Mozart started writting music at age 6, but it was not until he had been composing for 10 yrs at age 21. He did not start out a musical genius, but practiced and practiced his way to greatness. It was choice coupled with talent. The same goes for pro athletes. Most have 10,000 hours of practice by the time they hit the pros. Also, the Beatles had 10,000 hours of performing due to a chance ability to perform every night at a club in Hamburg for 2 years. They performed more than 1200 times before 1964 when they had their early success. That is more performing than many artists do in a lifetime.
When you look at the all time richest people list, you notice that 14 of the top 75 names are American men born within an 8 yr time frame. The main reason is the US went through major growth in that time frame, the railroad and Wall street created enormous wealth, probably never to be seen again. This is total chance. These men were born at the right time and took their opportunity to make the best of the opportunities they found. Taking this a bit further looking at the computer revolution and leaders who were born between 1954 and 1955.
Bill Gates, Paul Allen, Steve Ballmer, Steve Jobs, Eric Schmidt, Bill Joy,Scott McNealy, Vinod Khosla, Andy Bechtolsheim of Sun.
Your IQ won't bring you success alone. Your environment can play a role as well as noted with the lack of success found by Chris Langen. Good Schools and a nurturing home life play a role in your success as well.
Because many Jewish lawyers took on the business of mergers cases that the high up WASP lawyers wanted nothing to do with, this segment of the population was preparing them selves for a time when mergers and acquisitions became big business. These Jewish lawyers like Joe Flom took what they could get and could never have known what was in store for them. As mergers and acquisitions grew larger so did the firms run by these men. The combination of chance, hard work and knowledge got them there.
The attitudes of herding families in the mountains carries over from the herding mentality of the families from back in Europe. Even after the herding is gone, the feisty spirit remains in these men. That is why there are family feuds that few know the origins of.
Chinese are good at math because the way they put together numbers is more intuitive and faster to say and perform. Because children can perform more advanced math earlier, they tend to advance further and faster than other cultures/languages all the way through school.
The sacrifice that a poor child can face by being given the opportunity to go to a private school may remove their offspring from the grips of poverty, at a cost. Some would say that the child has no social time. But when you consider the success rate of certain programs, you would have a hard time arguing that it may be a good solution to remove future generations from poverty. Opportunity, Environment and Personal Will.
Will you read this book again? Maybe. It is a good read and brings you back down from your high horse that you are great by your own doing. There is so much chance, environment and personal will involved that you can't help but being brought down a level on your ego trip.
Would you suggest this book be added to a personal library? Public Library
Reviewed By Mike W - Twin Cities, MN
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