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Technology / Leadership Book Summary - Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

 The book Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell (2008) is a “story of success” and examines the common belief that success is due to one’s individual traits and efforts. Gladwell’s argument is that your history, culture, timing and luck plays a large role in the one’s success. Outliers who are people who do things that are out of the ordinary (Gladwell, 2008, Chapter 1) have distinct advantages that are primarily environmental and circumstantial.

 The other interesting viewpoint is that an individuals success is determined by the time that is required to become an expert in your chosen area. The author makes the case that there is a magic number is 10,000 hours of practice. Gladwell provides evidence that people we think are extraordinary or geniuses are just those that have put in the number of hours of practice.(Gladwell, 2008, Chapter 2)

 Where these two viewpoints converge are through the stories about outliers such as Bill Gates, The Beatles, attorney Joe Flom, computer pioneer Bill Joy, Robert Oppenheimer and many others not only put in the prerequisite hours of practice, but they had the advantage of circumstance. These circumstances include culture, the year someone was born, the social atmosphere they grew up in, situations that they met in their formative years.(Gladwell, 2008, Chapter 4)

 Examples cited in the book included the stereotypical assumption that Asian are better at math than other cultures. Gladwell provides evidence that Asians tend to be better at math primarily because the linguistics of Chinese allow children to learn numbers easier than linguistics of English. This minor difference allows Chinese children to see numbers conceptually different then those in the United States. Along with the differences in linguistics, the other reason Asian children are better at math is because their ancestors primarily worked in rice paddies. The relationship of farming rice versus farming corn and wheat as we do in the United States has indirectly influenced our school system.(Gladwell, 2008, Chapter 8) Rice farming is a labor intensive exercise in which the farmer must take great care of his crop to produce a sufficient yield, sometimes nurturing each individual rice plant. The water that floods the rice fields bring nutrients to the soil and this leads to the ability to continually farm without the need to “rest” the soil. In comparison corn and wheat farmers traditionally plant crops in the spring, pray for rain and harvest in the fall. The labor needed is not as intensive. Wheat and corn fields have to be rested or nutrients will be depleted from the soil overtime. Gladwell (2008) argues that the work ethic instilled in rice farmers in early Asian cultures were passed down to their ancestors. This lead to a different work ethic and in turn to a different school year in Asian countries.(Gladwell, 2008, Chapter 8) In western culture in the 1800’s school calendars were dictated by the cycle of harvest. Children did not go to school in the summer because conventional wisdom stated that to “cultivate young minds” you can’t “overwork the fields”. This led to summer vacations. Asian cultures have no notion of overworking the fields and therefore attend school year round. These fundamental difference continue in both cultures today, all rooted in the cultures of each region. (Gladwell, 2008,Chapter 8)

 The book contains numerous stories and examples how people who worked hard and were considered geniuses did not obtain success primarily because they were born under the wrong circumstances. In the end the conclusion of the book is that we currently focus on the wrong success factors and challenges a number of current political and social beliefs. In the end it advocates giving children equal and extraordinary opportunities early in their lives. I found the book an enjoyable read and found many of the points thought provoking and would suggest the book as a must read.

