Pros: Makes you think, easy to read, very interesting and unusual perspective
Cons: Some statistics might scare away non-number people
The Bottom Line: "Outliers" is a fascinating look at how we define success and the true stories of how luck, hard work, and opportunity often combine to produce our society's success stories.
tkerodd's Full Review: Malcolm Gladwell - Outliers: The Story of Success
If you are a business man or woman that enjoys numbers, you will likely find "Outliers" fascinating. For everyone else, fear not: this book actually takes statistical data and makes it interesting. No small feat.
The premise of the book is to look at examples of what our society defines as success - professional athletes, high customer service, impressive test scores, and the like - and look at them in a slightly different way. Gladwell does not fall into the usual reasons for success, choosing instead to look at the circumstances around these individuals to see if their success might be for a totally different reason. He looks at those intangibles that are part of success. This would include when you are born, where you grow up, the circumstances of time around you and how those things come together.
The core of the book is pretty simple. Success is often based on luck and very hard work. The harder you work, and the more you practice your chosen trade, the more opportunities are presented to you. It is within these "doors" that the true outliers shine, as they open or close the doors that are available to them.
In the end, you really don't have to be an outlier. Within the stories of Asian airline pilots, Jewish attorneys in New York, and Canadian hockey players are many others that played key roles. Even if you are not the one experiencing the success, you can advance someone else. How? By encouraging the people around you to reach their full potential. Give people chances to shine. Help those that you encounter at work and in your personal life. You might be the one that gives them the opportunity to take off into the statosphere that we call "Success".
If you like to think outside the box, I think "Outliers" is a good book for you. Gladwell is established as a writer that can take situations and turn them into fascinating stories. He does not disappoint in this work.
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