Being an outlier means being a non-conformist. One hears this kind of advice all the time. So many people buy into conventions that they forget the reasons behind the conventions.
Gladwell seeks to critique the standard story of an outlier’s success. As normally told, outliers start doing there own thing; they work really hard and persevere; then in the end, they end up successful while all the world is envious of them; their story is one of individualism. Gladwell seeks to bring to light that while this may be true, there are social structures at work helping the person along.
“No man [or woman] is an island,” wrote John Donne in the sixteenth century. Such is still true today, Gladwell admonishes us. We are the products of how our environments shape us. In order to succeed, we do not need to be different; instead, we need to grasp to make the most of the opportunities presented to us. He illustrates his point through telling interesting stories about topics as varied as hockey players’ birthdays, computer technology, slavery in Jamaica, and the interaction of ethnicity and plane crashes. These stories show what he means by the fact that we are all dependent on social supports to some degree. Success is not just a choice of the will; it is the product of a society.
Some, particularly in America, might be defensive about their own individualism while reading Malcolm’s writing. We must be clear that Malcolm is not saying that individual choices and personality play no role. What he is saying is that society plays a role, too. We must pay attention to one’s culture and to plain luck as well.
This book is an interesting read for leaders. It is not a sociological study and does not contain a depth of academic rigor. It seeks to inspire mainly by story and anecdote. It’s a good reminder to get our minds off of ourselves and our personalities and onto things that really help out the people next door, in the next cubicle, or in the next suburb or town.
Outliers: The Story of Success
by Malcolm Gladwell
Copyright (c) 2008
ISBN13 9780316017923
Page Count: 309
Genre: Sociology, Non-Fiction
www.amazon.com