I finished Outliers Last Night

James — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 18:39:26 +0000

Last night I finished reading Outliers in the bathtub at three in the morning. I couldn’t sleep so I figured I’d do something productive with my time. You may be asking what this book has to do with weight loss…well nothing really its just a good book.

Outliers is a great book. Like Gladwell’s other books it is presented as case studies. The author leaves little room for critical thinking by interlacing his opinion and ideas throughout. The book’s thesis states successful people–Outliers–are “grounded in a web of advantages and inheritances, some deserved, some not, some earned, some just plain lucky–but all critical to making them who they are.” I fully subscribe to the theory of right place and right time paired with hard work and a fair amount of luck as a means to success. But the book makes a strong case by chronicling several super wealthy or influential people.

I enjoyed the book and had trouble putting it down. It was entertaining and provides plenty of fodder for pseudo-intellectual conversations. However, it is not a revelation to me nor will it break new ground for anyone who has believes we are products of our environment with slight variations based on our genes.

Outliers has already climbed onto the best-sellers list which will make the books theories available to wide audience . I wonder how people will feel when they realize the book dispels the American mythology of self-made success.

One part that stood out was the 10k hour theory. I am working on completing the requisite 10,000 hours of practice it takes to become a proficient writer. Keep reading and see if I get any better.

Anyway, buy the book, read it and leave your comments here.

Outliers: The Story of Success
Price: USD 11.67

223 used & new available from USD 9.49

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
Price: USD 8.49

442 used & new available from USD 3.48

The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
Price: USD 8.49

838 used & new available from USD 3.74

Outliers: The Story of Success

James — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:08:46 +0000

I just got this book from Amazon and have yet to crack it open. It’s had several good reviews and I’ve read Gladwell’s other books. I’ll let you know what I think as soon as I’m done.

Outliers: The Story of Success
Price: 11.67

223 used & new available from 9.49

Amazon Best of the Month, November 2008: Now that he’s gotten us talking about the viral life of ideas and the power of gut reactions, Malcolm Gladwell poses a more provocative question in Outliers: why do some people succeed, living remarkably productive and impactful lives, while so many more never reach their potential? Challenging our cherished belief of the “self-made man,” he makes the democratic assertion that superstars don’t arise out of nowhere, propelled by genius and talent: “they are invariably the beneficiaries of hidden advantages and extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies that allow them to learn and work hard and make sense of the world in ways others cannot.” Examining the lives of outliers from Mozart to Bill Gates, he builds a convincing case for how successful people rise on a tide of advantages, “some deserved, some not, some earned, some just plain lucky.”

Outliers can be enjoyed for its bits of trivia, like why most pro hockey players were born in January, how many hours of practice it takes to master a skill, why the descendents of Jewish immigrant garment workers became the most powerful lawyers in New York, how a pilots’ culture impacts their crash record, how a centuries-old culture of rice farming helps Asian kids master math. But there’s more to it than that. Throughout all of these examples–and in more that delve into the social benefits of lighter skin color, and the reasons for school achievement gaps–Gladwell invites conversations about the complex ways privilege manifests in our culture. He leaves us pondering the gifts of our own history, and how the world could benefit if more of our kids were granted the opportunities to fulfill their remarkable potential. –Mari Malcolm

In this stunning new book, Malcolm Gladwell takes us on an intellectual journey through the world of “outliers”–the best and the brightest, the most famous and the most successful. He asks the question: what makes high-achievers different? His answer is that we pay too much attention to what successful people are like, and too little attention to where they are from: that is, their culture, their family, their generation, and the idiosyncratic experiences of their upbringing. Along the way he explains the secrets of software billionaires, what it takes to be a great soccer player, why Asians are good at math, and what made the Beatles the greatest rock band.

Brilliant and entertaining, OUTLIERS is a landmark work that will simultaneously delight and illuminate.