Outliers
By Malcolm Gladwell
- Release Date: 2008-11-18
- Genre: Management & Leadership
Description
Malcolm Gladwell, bestselling author of Blink and The Bomber Mafia and host of the podcast Revisionist History, explores what sets high achievers apart—from Bill Gates to the Beatles—in this seminal work from "a singular talent" (New York Times Book Review).
In this stunning book, Malcolm Gladwell takes us on an intellectual journey through the world of "outliers"—the best and the brightest, the most famous and the most successful. He asks the question: what makes high-achievers different?
His answer is that we pay too much attention to what successful people are like, and too little attention to where they are from: that is, their culture, their family, their generation, and the idiosyncratic experiences of their upbringing. Along the way he explains the secrets of software billionaires, what it takes to be a great soccer player, why Asians are good at math, and what made the Beatles the greatest rock band.
Brilliant and entertaining, Outliers is a landmark work that will simultaneously delight and illuminate.
Reviews
Insightful
4By M_LuboThe author offers very new ways of viewing success and achievement that are at times enlightening and at times somewhat discouraging. But the thoughts that the research a writing evokes are clearly important.Masterpiece
4By Faisal SalahRich of research. If I were a president if a state, I would make this book mandatory in all schools. It’s one of the things I wish I read when I was much younger. The 7th chapter (The Ethnic Theory of Plane Crashes) is the best part. Sometimes it made me feel demoralized, but I guess it’s the reality of life. I would love to read more books of the same kind.Informative
5By Game_Review8879This was a very informative book. Makes you think about how you can improve.Am I an outlier, too?
4By SusanlberryProvocative reading which explains how our circumstances support our gifts.Horrifying
2By Ace Rah TAcademics should never write about real life, they have limited knowledge on the vast lived experience. Binary assumptions asserted about situations with clear intersections is a key sign of limited perception. It is harmful because people will quote these limited thoughts as facts and make decisions based solely on the reputation of the academic. Do better.Enlightening!
5By Deann McBrideGladwell masterfully uses data, science and storytelling to make sense of the conflicts we all hold in our hearts about success, race, wealth, and privilege. Bravo!Over-rated
2By braidarI found some of the sentences in this book quite offensive and supremacist towards the immigrant community, including myself, an outlier.10/10
5By jequcory davisThis was an amazing book. Start to finish. I’m literally going to read at least 2 more of his books if not all of them. Highly recommend.Facts
4By UrbandySuch an interesting collection of facts that has altered my way of thinking. I just wish there was more of a summation of something I could do to be more successful, it seems like these outliers had a fair bit of chance and luck to make them great.Redundant. Full of fluff.
2By PrisJimIt’s so so. The same stories to back up his claims. I get it. The book could have been just two chapters to get the point across. Too many stats to keep me interested. I had to skim through a lot. Unenthusiastic in many ways. It’s not going to be a favorite.A very unique and creative perspective
1By My kingsVery good book with interesting concepts and that often lead to self evaluation and re-examination/ discovery of my past. 3.5 because it becomes slightly over done at times ( however I believe it to be done to convey the author’s passion and belief in his theory.Gbhjio
5By hdjdjdkfkkfIt was goodContemplative and interesting
5By VagusDocSome unique points of view (I assume), good read. Reminds one to take stock of their privileges and work hard for what they want in life.A Classic
4By Tommy McSassIt’s definitely a classic and makes you think about what you value - both your inner appreciation for your own work ethic and your situational…luck.Outliers: the story of success
4By wanna.beeIt’s very interesting. I like it.Good but not like Talking To Strangers
3By txpenelopeThis was a very interesting audiobook. Gladwell looks at success through a different lens. He examines success not just by hard work but by timing. Gladwell explains the 10,000 hour rule - it takes 10,000 hours of intense practice to become an expert at something. But success is also a product of timing. The majority of professional hockey players are born at the beginning months of the year coinciding with the youth league age cutoff. Wealthiest men of the Industrial Age are born within 10 years. Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, & Bill Joi born within months of each other. Gladwell also examines how culture plays a part of success too. However, I felt that Chapter 7 on plane crashes which examines cultural reasons for communication breakdowns during flight emergencies didn’t really fit into this book about “success.” After reading Gladwell’s book Talking to Strangers, this book was a bit of a disappointment. Overall it’s a good book but not at the same caliber as Talking to Strangers.Outliers
5By SaiyeAwesomeNature vs Nurture
5By Richard BakareThe debate of Nature versus Nurture is an old one. Hero culture, that idea of individual exceptionalism willed from “boot strap” beginnings, prevails heavily in the US. What this vision lacks is the detailed history and nuanced perspective on all of the circumstances that set up success in spite of all other factors. Malcolm Gladwell does another masterful job of diving into the complexities of social psychology; employing his usual story telling narrative style, along with data, and engaging anecdotes. Specifically, this book navigates through relatedness and definitions of IQ, EQ, and SQ. It builds from those foundations to ask how the odd formula of balancing those three along with “lucky” breaks help us see the true story behind success and failure. My individual perspective leads me to believe that who we are comes down to 1 part nature (IQ) plus 2 parts nurture (environment [EQ + SQ]). The bigger take away is that we have to really look at, what Gladwell calls the Cultural Heredity, of various scenarios to get to the root circumstances that filter people into successful, average, and failing buckets. Then ask ourselves, is the system itself producing outliers by way of some unseen flaw or is the playing field level and we are really seeing the cream of the crop?Paradigm shift
5By JackolanternnnnnnI love this book, I will forever see the world differently because of it!
