Outliers

In Outliers Malcolm Gladwell presents a unique and practical explanation of success. Unlike the isolated concept of “individual merit” (p. 17) which merely expresses that performance and ability lead to success, Gladwell draws upon community and cultural values to explain history’s truly successful individuals, such as Bill Gates and Albert Einstein. Outliers explores the lives of these successful people before they were successes. Malcolm Gladwell also introduces the essential “10,000-Hour Rule” (p. 35) which indicates that “[p]ractice isn’t the thing you do once you’re good. It’s the thing that makes you good.” (p. 42). Outliers offers a new and important perspective on success that does not simply differentiate between the successful and unsuccessful; it powerfully explains why true outliers are successful and how anyone given the proper circumstances can also become successful.

Gladwell redefines success in Outliers, thereby deemphasizing individual merit while capitalizing upon the influences of society and culture. Instead of looking at successful people as those that have pulled themselves up by their own bootstraps, Malcolm Gladwell explores the opportunities in their lives that brought them success. Consider Bill Joy, one of the creators of the Internet, who learned programming in college: “Because he happened to go to a farsighted school like the University of Michigan, he was able to practice on a time-sharing system…because the Michigan system happened to have a bug in it, he could program all he wanted” (p. 46). By including such telling information about Joy’s beginnings as a software programmer, Outliers convincingly endorses the effect of environment on successful people. Simultaneously Gladwell validates the importance of individuality in success: “Each of us has his or her own distinct personality. But overlaid on top of that are tendencies and assumptions and reflexes handed down to us by the history of the community we grew up in, and those differences are extraordinarily specific.” (p. 204). Outliers traverses the narrow path between individual worth and community involvement by affirming the benefits of both.

My grandfather recently retired as the CEO of a successful concrete company. He worked hard to escape the relative poverty that gripped his family after the death of his father. Through sheer determination and grit he obtained success for himself by which he could support a family of his own. His associates consider him a genius of business and entrepreneurialism, but Malcolm Gladwell would seek further explanation of my grandfather’s success. Gladwell would note that my great-grandfather was a youthful immigrant from Norway who paid his own voyage across the sea to escape the ravages of Nazi-invaded Scandinavia. He then worked in a coal mine to provide for his later family. After his death my great-grandmother worked as a candy maker in Salt Lake City to purchase food for her family. My grandfather learned hard work from his parents, which came in handy when he began working for a concrete company. Years later when the CEO was in financial trouble and the company was floundering, my grandfather took over operations. Through his significant hands-on experience with concrete, he turned the company into the success it is today. Gladwell explains stories similar to that of my grandfather on page 19: “[Outliers] 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.” In my grandfather’s case, Outliers changes the dynamics of his success to include the contributions of his Norwegian culture and “extraordinary opportunities” in the concrete business.

Outliers explains that “[a]chievement is talent plus preparation.” (p. 38). Gladwell designates that talent is an important factor in success, but he also states that my grandfather’s most “extraordinary opportunity” was his previous work in the concrete business before he became CEO of his company. The concept of practice and experience is not a new one. Countless job applications ask for previous work experience and education. Although hiring agents understand the importance of experience, Gladwell takes the notion one step further. On page 39 he suggests that “once a musician has enough ability to get into a top music school, the thing that distinguishes one performer from another is how hard he or she works.” Simply having experience is important, but Outliers firmly states that taking advantage of that experience and working hard distinguishes successes from failures. Emphasizing hard work and the 10,000-Hour Rule seems to contradict the influence of community and culture in the success of an individual. Instead, it is a strategic method that Gladwell uses to better illustrate his point: the people that have the work ethic to become truly successful learned it from their community and their experiences.

Anyone desiring to develop an intrinsic understanding of success should consult Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers, which provides a definition of success that sees past individual merit to the benefits of society and “extraordinary opportunities.” Gladwell adds to the concept of individual worth by describing cultural and community inputs that made people like Steve Jobs and Bobby Fletcher geniuses in their respective fields. Rags-to-riches stories, like that of my grandfather, provide Gladwell with a useful resource into which he can delve for other factors that better explain the success of such individuals. For example, without the work ethic my grandfather learned from his parents, he may never have found success in the concrete industry. Outliers asserts that success is an attitude cultivated by society that is supplemented by innate ability. Gladwell’s comprehensive definition of success is an important celebration of both individuality and community: “Outliers are those who have been given opportunities—and who have had the strength and presence of mind to seize them” (p. 267).