On Your Bookshelf: Outliers – The Story of Success

By Andrea Newell (Grand Rapids, MI)

It is an age-old question–what is the secret of success? In Outliers – The Story of Success Malcolm Gladwell sets forth his theory that success is a mixture of timing, talent, opportunities, circumstances, intelligence, attitude, cultural background, and hard work.

Supported by case studies and in-depth research, Gladwell uses examples ranging from youth sports to Beatles music, form Bill Joy and Bill Gates to the garment industry workers and New York lawyers, and from the Hatfields and the McCoys. His smooth, narrative style draws readers in as he marches through history, analyzes cultures and dissects parenting styles.

Gladwell argues that success must always be viewed in context. Timing, opportunities and circumstances play a huge role. The absence of one element could easily turn one on the road to success down a path to nowhere special.

He also emphasized that no one achieves success alone. Bill Gates would not have started Microsoft had he not had the access to a computer lab in the prestigious junior high school he attended. And Gladwell notes that success begets success. Once Gates was known for his computer prowess, more opportunities kept coming his way.

The impact of opportunity, timing and circumstances plays out in many unexpected ways. For example, youth hockey players with early birthdays, which make them older, stronger and more coordinated than players with birthdays in later months, tend to be singled out as talented at a young age and thus receive more coaching and practice than the other kids. This, in turn, leads to better skills and more success.

Which begs the questions: What if Gates hadn’t attended that junior high school? What if those players had been born months later? Gladwell argues that they would not have been as accomplished. “Success is less about talent than opportunity,” writes Gladwell

Good to Great in 10,000 Hours

Most readers would agree that the most obvious ingredient to success is hard work. Through his examples, Gladwell illustrates time and again the hours and dedication it takes to become not only good, but great at something. “Practice isn’t the thing you do once you’re good. It’s the thing you do that makes you good.” He concludes that the magic minimum number is 10,000 hours spent honing a skill, paired with the opportunity to capitalize on that skill before a multitude of others gain the same experience.

Gates had 10,000 hours of computer experience at a time when no one else had as much, and the founders of a subsequently high-powered New York law firm had 10,000 hours of specialized litigation experience before the rest of the legal community realized its value. By chance, the Beatles got an opportunity to play in Hamburg and gain dozens more stage hours than almost any other band at that time. “People at the very top don’t work just harder or even much harder than everyone else. They work much, much harder.”

Culture is an overlooked, but important element of both success and failure. Gladwell asserts that a person’s heritage and culture play a large part in determining a person’s path toward success or failure. Jewish garment workers who achieved success led to future generations of successful doctors and lawyers. Chinese wet rice farmers who toiled tirelessly all year round resulted in future generations of math wizards.

Gladwell leaves no factor unexplored, including parenting style and upbringing. He describes two geniuses in early childhood who showed similar potential: one had no support structure, no family involvement, no opportunities, and no encouragement and the other came from privilege, had involved parents, access into exclusive schools, and a host of opportunities. Although the non-privileged genius worked hard, he ended up owning a cattle farm near a small town with no academic audience for his ideas and insights, while the advantaged genius became the physicist who led the American nuclear bomb project during World War II.

Not only can parenting styles make or break success, but privileged children hold the greatest advantage, not only in education and opportunity, but also in attitude. Gladwell cites a study that asserts that the parents of poor children are intimidated by authority and teach their children to be as well, while higher income parents teach their children to be assertive and to expect respect from adults and peers alike. It also claims that poor parents aren’t as involved in their children’s education, while wealthier parents provide every learning opportunity possible.

Outliers: The Verdict

Despite some weak spots, Outliers is captivating and immensely readable. The majority of Gladwell’s examples are compelling and convincing. The one downside is that he delivers them in such an airtight manner that it may serve to discourage those outside Gladwell’s parameters from even dreaming of success, viewing it as an unachievable goal.

In the end, Gladwell’s ultimate message is one everyone can learn from:

“It is not the brightest who succeed…Nor is success simply the sum of the decisions and efforts we make on our own behalf. It is, rather, a gift. Outliers are those who have been given opportunities—and who have had the strength and presence of mind to seize them…To build a better world we need to replace the patchwork of lucky breaks and arbitrary advantages that today determines success…with a society that provides opportunities for all. The world could be so much richer than the world we have settled for.”