Malcolm Gladwell is one of my favorite business book authors. He has a fantastic way of making me look at things differently or gain deeper insight into what I naturally took for granted. The beauty in the latter is that I often learn things that I can apply in many situations. In some instances when reading his books I have actually said aloud, “I wish I knew that 5 years ago.” Outliers is no different. It is a very entertaining (in an epiphany sort of way) look at success. We all know that success is a combination of talent, hard work, and opportunity (some might call it luck). This isn’t news.
His main assertions, in my words, is that talent is less important than hard work and opportunity. His research unveiled a 10 year-10,000 hour prerequisite to true outlier success. This means that to achieve true outlier expertise you must practice (i.e., do something with the express purpose of getting better at it) for an accumulated 10,000 hours within a span of 10 years. I found this fascinating and it puts some real metrics around one of my favorite sayings, “If you want what most people will never have then you must do what most people will never do.” My Dad always told me that hard work pays off but I wish he gave me the 10 year-10,000 hour rule.
But Gladwell spends most of the book deeply exploring the “opportunity” side of the equation and he squeezes the luck right out of it. Culture, timing, and upbringing, he argues, are the primary determinants of opportunity. His stories are compelling.
Although I didn’t walk away with as many applicable “lessons” from Outliers as I did from “The Tipping Point” (which should be mandatory reading for those interested in social applications) it was a very interesting and enlightening book. I definitely recommend it.
3 responses so far ↓
1 Bruce Robertson // Jan 7, 2009 at 6:34 pm
I too recommend the book.
I immediately got my high school senior daughter to read it — it shows that many things matter to success, and not to let the appearance of success being based entirely on talent not be countered by the stories of hard work (the 10,000 hours) and opportunity (which really is the luck part). It’s not that talent does NOT matter, but it’s not the only thing — and it may not be the most critical thing (as the hockey player story certainly suggests — that story makes it worth the reading for ANYONE).
As a musician, I can myself tell the difference between the 10K musicians I’ve played with and those short of that mark — and I play rock and roll (you don’t have to be a classical musician to become expert). But, I’ve met many with those 10,000 hours that are NOT successful even tho they are experts. Success needs both expertise and opportunity.
I did enjoy the book, and as with his others, it’s an easy read. I finished it on the way home from the Gartner event he spoke at.
2 Mark Madsen // Jan 27, 2009 at 4:36 am
One comment on Tipping Point. Research since the book shos that Gladwell’s emphasis on the influencer has proven to be far less important than the people being influenced. He has an ability to construct great narrative supported by many references, but you have to be careful about going to sources before taking his primary theses at face value.
3 Anthony Bradley // Jan 27, 2009 at 11:29 am
This is a good point Mark. I would say that the Tipping Point scenarios assume a fertile environment for change meaning that the “influenced” are ready for and even desiring change (even if they don’t quite realize it). This is critical for success. If the “influenced” are not ready or intransigent then the tipping point will likely never happen. This is a very important point for those engaging in social applications. You can have the best influencers in the world but if they aren’t tapping a community need (i.e., pursuing a magnetic purpose) then they just might be talking to a wall.
So I would add that community receptivity and a purpose that draws them in are crucial. Influencers are only part of the equation.
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