OUTLIERS
MALCOLM GLADWELL
Published in 2008, Outliers: The Story of Success is Malcolm Gladwell’s third
consecutive best-selling nonfiction book
Malcolm T. Gladwell, is a Canadian journalist, bestselling author, and speaker
WHAT IS AN OUTLIER?
Outliers, published in 2008
In Outliers, Gladwell attempts to answer,
"What makes some people successful while
others are not?“
Through a series of case studies, Gladwell
insists that we have all too easily bought
into the myth that successful people are
self-made
Instead, he says they are:
“ invariably the beneficiaries of
hidden advantages and
extraordinary opportunities that
allow them to learn and work
hard and make sense of the world
in ways others cannot.”
Gladwell defines an outlier as a person out
of the ordinary “who doesn't fit into our
normal understanding of achievement.”
So what are some of these “advantages and
opportunities” leading to success ?
• Gladwell challenges the ideas of innate genius and natural-born
talent.
• Through a series of detailed examples, Gladwell explains that people like
Mozart, Bill Gates, the Beatles were not born with natural talent.
• INSTEAD….
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they had the right upbringing and cultural legacy
were in the right place at the right time
At least 10,000 hours of hard work or practice
A few lucky opportunities along the way
For example, rather than this model of
success:
This is really what’s going on:
LET’S EXAMINE SOME OF THESE IDEAS MORE
CLOSELY!!!
THE MATHEW EFFECT
• The Matthew Effect
• Gladwell begins by quoting a verse from the Bible that states
that those who have will be given more while those who
have not will lose that which they had.
• Gladwell describes certain advantages sports players and
school children have simply because of their birth dates.
• The time of year these people were born led to certain
advantages that spiraled upwards from that point on.
The Matthew Effect and CANADIAN HOCKEY
PLAYERS
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Gladwell explains a rather unique statistic: of players in Canadian professional hockey leagues
40% were born between January and March
30% between April and June
20% between July and September
10% between October and December
The explanation for this unusual statistic is simple: in Canada, the cut-off birth date for trying out
for hockey leagues is January 1st. So, if you turn ten on January 1, you are going to be a lot bigger,
physically more mature, and more coordinated than a child who turns ten on December 31st
• One year’s difference in adolescence makes a huge difference in a child’s ability and strength
on the sports field
• After noting this statistic, Gladwell then goes on to describe the spiral effect from that point on—
the bigger kids will play better and then be scouted by better coaches for more competitive
teams.
• On those competitive teams, the bigger kids will be given better coaches, more chances to play
and practice, and games against other more competitive teams
Matthew Effect and the Hockey Players cont..
• Same findings with European soccer and a test scores in school
systems.
• For the test scores, the older kids in the grade score higher than do the
younger children. This is a statistic that is true from elementary school all the
way up through college.
• We often think that successful people got there through personal
achievement, hard work and innate talent
• Gladwell feels that we need to take into account that sometimes
people are more successful than others their age simply because
they were born at better time.
The 10,000 Hour Rule
• for an individual to become an expert in any skill, they need to spend about
10,000 hours practicing or working on it
• For example, the Beatles spent two years in Germany playing long hours
each day (8 hours a day, 7 days a week, for a good chunk of the year)
before they became famous.
• Bill Gates spent hours and hours programming (20 to 30 hours a week),
skipping athletics and even sneaking out at night to get in computer time.
• Although Mozart was skilled at the piano, he didn’t start writing his own
compositions until he reached 21 years of age (prior to that, he mostly
played compositions that others wrote).
• If you add up all the hours of practice from those who possess talent, and
compare them to those who lack talent, the numbers explain a lot!
Timing and the 10,000 Hour Rule
• Gladwell gives several examples of people who were successful because they had
the right skills at the right time in history.
• EXAMPLE: 14 of the 75 wealthiest people in history were born in American in the
mid-19th century, within 9 years of one another. They were the right age at the
time when the economy changed radically
• EXAMPLE: William Joy learned programming before it became popular. Just
about the time he accrued 10,000 hours of programming practice, personal
computing arrived, making the scene perfect for someone with his skillset to
exploit the market.
• EXAMPLE: In the 1960s and 70s, lawyers skilled in dealing with corporate
takeovers and litigation suddenly became highly sought after, whereas years
earlier the practice was considered shady.
• These lawyers put in the time to perfect their skills before their skills were valued causing
them to be wildly successful when their skills were needed.
The Problem with IQ
• Does having an IQ in the genius range automatically mean
that one will be successful?
• According to several studies summarized by Gladwell it does not!
• when it comes to intelligence, there tends to be a threshold; once you
get past a certain level of intelligence, it does not really impact your
success much
• Instead, other factors—particularly creativity, the ability to think in
innovative ways, and dealing well with change and unexpected
factors—are what help people succeed.
• Background and upbringing also play a crucial role
• He Uses the examples of Chris Langan and Robert Oppenheimer to
illustrate this point
THRESHOLD OF INTELLIGENCE
• Chris Langan
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IQ of 195 and is considered the smartest man in America.
Grew up incredibly poor with a working mother and a drunken father.
College drop out
Since then, he has not achieved success in traditional terms.
• Robert Oppenheimer
• One of the crucial designers of the nuclear bomb
• He, too, was brilliant, but he came from a wealthy family
• Degree from Harvard, and was very successful.
SO WHY THE DIFFERENCE?
• Langan did not possess creativity and more importantly “Practical
Intelligence”
• Practical Intelligence – How to navigate certain situations to get what
you want.
• Upbringing
• Langan – poor dysfunctional family with very little support – no opportunities
to develop the “practical intelligence” needed to succeed
• Oppenheimer – Wealthy family that afforded him many opportunities to
develop his skills as well as his “practical intelligence”
The influence of Culture
• Your culture has a strong influence on your behavior and level of success
• Can be either positive or negative
• Gladwell says that leaving out a successful person’s background and
upbringing paints an incomplete picture.
• EXAMPLE: Columbian co- pilot who most likely crashed a plane because,
even with diminishing fuel, he wasn’t assertive enough to stand up to the
intimidating control tower and demand to the captain to land.
• Columbian culture - deep respect for superiors and they are rarely challenged or
contradicted.
• Cultures that encourage passive submission to authority might find
themselves at a disadvantage in serious situations
Culture (con.t)
• Other times, your culture works for you.
• EXAMPLE: Asians who spent centuries working in rice paddies, a type
of farming that requires meticulous care all year long, passed on this
work ethic to their descendants.
• Many of the inheritors of the rice-paddy work ethic apply the same diligence
in their schoolwork. This diligence, of course, brings more success.
Upbringing
• Involved parents vs. non-involved parents is a key difference that leads to
an individual’s success in life.
• Involved parents talk to their kids more and critically provide more
opportunity for them (by taking them to museums, putting them into
summer school, helping them with their homework etc.)
• More involved parents tend to be wealthier
• Wealthy parents can provide more opportunities in terms of education,
extracurricular activities and cultural experiences
• Bill Gates – Wealthy family with many opportunities afforded to him
• Chris Langdan – Poor family with hardly any parental support
• More involved, wealthier parents teach their children better communication skills and better
life skills in general to deal with change and the real world.