Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
Why do some people succeed far more than others?
There is a story that is usually told about extremely successful people, a story that focuses on intelligence and ambition. In Outliers Malcolm Gladwell argues that the true story of success is very different, and that if we want to understand how some people thrive, we should spend more time looking around them--at such things as their family, their birthplace, or even their birth date. The story of success is more complex--and a lot more interesting--than it initially appears.
Outliers explains what the Beatles and Bill Gates have in common, the extraordinary success of Asians at math, the hidden advantages of star athletes, why all top New York lawyers have the same resume, and the reason you've never heard of the world's smartest man--all in terms of generation, family, culture, and class. It matters what year you were born if you want to be a Silicon Valley billionaire, Gladwell argues, and it matters where you were born if you want to be a successful pilot. The lives of outliers--those people whose achievements fall outside normal experience--follow a peculiar and unexpected logic, and in making that logic plain Gladwell presents a fascinating and provocative blueprint for making the most of human potential.
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Malcolm Gladwell has been a staff writer with The New Yorker magazine since 1996. He has authored 3 books, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Make a Big Difference, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, and Outliers: The Story of Success, all of which were number one New York Times bestsellers. In 2005 he was named one of TIME Magazine's 100 Most Influential People.
Have you read any of his books? Tony thinks we should read one for the book club. He says they are "real" books.
Are you participating in the Fall Challenge?
