The book, Outliers: The Story of Success, expands the idea of successful people. Through each chapter, the author Malcolm Gladwell explains various success stories, but he counteracts the idea that people’s achievements are based on luck. Instead, he forces readers to look beyond the individual in order to understand how success works and outliers are made through various of themes.
Under the heading “The Matthew Effect”, Gladwell introduces the first chapter with a scene about Gordie Howe, a very talented hockey player in Canada. He goes on to explain how Howe got to where he was due to his ability and individual merit. The author then switches gears and explains that the book is not about those who are successful due to ability and merit, but rather those who achieve, “are invariable 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” (18). Gladwell then introduces a 2007 roster from the Medicine Hat Tigers which includes player’s birthdates. He explained that based on Canadian psychologist Roger Barnsley discovery that most of the highly-ranked players are born in the months of January, February and March. It is an unusual pattern that had a large effect on an individual’s ability. The author concluded that those who are born in the beginning of the year are stronger players than those born at the end of the year due to the fact they had more opportunities and time to achieve the necessary skills to improve. Overall, this chapter explains that success and failure is not measured through ability, but instead through timing which presents more opportunities to achieve.
Chapter 2 is introduced with the heading “The 10,000-Hour Rule”. The chapter begins with a summary of Bill Joy’s life. He attended the University of Michigan the same year that the Computer Center opened. He originally wanted to go into biology or mathematics, but out of fate, the opportunity of programming presented itself and Joy decided to bury himself in it. Through his hard work and determination, he became known for being the computer programming. However, Gladwell questioned his success and believed Joy “reached their (his) lofty status through a combination of ability, opportunity, and utterly arbitrary advantage” (37). As the chapter continues the author brings up the idea that of innate talent, and tries deceivers if people are successful because they were born with a particular talent. However, psychologist K. Anders Ericsson tested the theory and concluded that people could have innate talent, however they do not fully flourish because of it, rather they thrive because they were given the opportunity to continually practice their skills. This was where the heading of the chapter comes into play. In the experiment, Ericsson tested prodigies and came to the consensus that the only way people became expertise was with ten thousand hours under their belts (41). Lastly, prodigies such as Mozart, hockey players and even Joy were given privileges and presented with opportunities that enabled them to be successful.
Just like the first two chapters were presented, the third chapter also begins with a success story. The topic was introduced through a game show called 1 vs. 100, which featured Christopher Langan as the special guest who was known as the smartest man in America and celebrity outlier. As the story continues Langan’s fame is explained by his outrageous IQ score and ability to catch on to things quickly. The author then introduces Lewis Terman and his interest in intelligence testing. He created a study of the gifted his life work. He believed that an individual IQ was the most important thing about them, besides their morals (74). Consequently, Gladwell contradicts Terman ideas by making the statement that “The relationship between success and IQ works only up to a point. Once someone has reached an IQ of somewhere around 120, having additional IQ points doesn’t seem to translate into any measurable real-world advantage” (79). He emphasizes concept by introducing a different IQ test known as a divergence test; where students were given two objects: a brick and a blanket, and asked them to come up with as many different uses they could think of. The results were not what one would image. The student with the lower IQ score came up with multiple ways to use the objects, while students with a higher IQ score came up with the least number of ways to use the objects. This provided what Terman failed to realize, and what the chapter overall focuses on that IQ was not the most important thing and individuals’ intelligence could not predict their success.
Chapter 4 is a continuum of the life of Chris Lagan. The chapter goes into detail about how he grew poor, but was lucky enough to be given a scholarship. The experience ended up being a culture shock, he lost his scholarship due to his mother incorrectly filling out the form. He then enrolled Montana State University and asked his professor to work with him and move him from the morning to the afternoon section, but the teacher denied his request. He then came to the conclusion, that earning a higher education was not the route for him. The author then begins to interpret Lagan’s story and declares it to be “strange” as he compared it to Robert Oppenheimer’s story, who was bright but unstable. He’s known for trying to poison his tutor which caused the school to put him on probation (96-98). Both cases are similar as they are had to plead their cases to authority, however the outcome is completely different. The potential murderer, Oppenheimer gets sent to a psychologist, while Langan, who wanted to learn gets his scholarship taken. Oppenheimer determination to never give up lead him to obtain the job of leading the atomic bomb effort. Oppositely, Langan abandoned his situation, which made it hard to find work due to lack of education. Gladwell then brought up the topic of practical intelligence with the explanation that “the particular skill that allows you to talk your way out of a murder rap, or convince your professor to move you from the morning to afternoon section” (101). Therefore, he explains that intelligence is not something one is born with, but rather something one most learn. This topic is expanded when sociologist, Annette Lareau study of third grades is introduced. She studied the children’s lives, including their family and wealth status. “When we talk about the advantageous of class, Lareau argues, this is in large part what we mean. Alex Williams is better off than Katie Brindle, because he’s wealthier and perhaps this is even more critical the sense of entitlement that he has been taught is an attitude perfectly suited to succeeding in the modern world” (108). This conclusion related back to the differences between Langan and Oppenheimer and how their different social status affected their success in the long-term. Gladwell ties it all back to the Termites and explained that the reason some succeeded greatly and others didn’t not was due to social class. Overall social class truly can impact the success and failures, as well as opportunities.
Chapter 5 is broken up into three lessons. Lesson Number One: The Importance of Being Jewish. This lesion had to do with Joe Flom. He was known as the scholar who attended Harvard Law and was discriminated against for being Jewish when we applied for jobs. The limit in opportunity caused him to join the small new firm Skadden, Aprs, they worked with anything “came in the door to a generation of Jewish lawyers from the Bronx and Brooklyn in the 1950s and 1960s, then, was the work the white-shoe firms disdained: litigation and, more important, “proxy fights” (125). In the mid 1970’s to 1980s the money involved in mergers and acquisitions increased about 2000 percent
and all of the sudden everyone needed a lawyer, and choose the small Jewish law firm who had the reputation. Ultimately, Flom overcame the odds that were against him and succeed. Lesson Number Two: Demographic Luck. This lesson goes into detail about being demographically lucky and unlucky through the story of Maurice Janklow and his son Mort Janklow. Maurice who attended law school in 1919 didn’t succeed as much as his son who built a law firm in 1960’s. “The explanation has to do with two of the great cataclysmic events of the twentieth century: the Great Depression and World War II” which caused the demographic trough” (131). Janklow just like Flom were lucky enough to be born during this period, because the advantages of less people to keep with ultimately allowed them to succeed. “The story of Janlow tells us that the meteoric rise of Joe Flow could not have happened at just any time. Even the most gifted of lawyers, equipped with the best of family lessons, cannot escape the limitations of their generation” (138). Lesson Number Three: The Garment Industry and Meaningful Work. This section talks about the Borgenicht’s who moved to America and made a fortune by working hard using their skills to create and selling aprons. They were successful because they had the three qualities: autonomy, complexity and connection and it was meaningful (149-150). Gladwell then begins to talk about family lineage and comes to the conclusion that children of these workers became professional because of their humble origins (153). He closes the chapter by summing up how the outlier, Flom ended up succeeding, through opportunities, timing and his family line.
Harlan, Kentucky is the title for chapter 6. This is where the scene takes place of a family feud between the Howard clan and the Turner’s that ended with death. However, this feud started a trend “When one family fights with another, it’s a feud. When lots of families fight with one another in identical little towns up and down the same mountain range, it’s a pattern….people are willing to fight due to culture of honor, which means to fight to defend their reputation (166-167). Gladwell expands the topic of culture of honor by explaining an experiment conducted by Dov Cohen and Richard Nisbett. The idea behind the experiment was to know what happened in places like Harlan in the nineteenth century was, in all likelihood, a product of patterns laid down in the English borderlands centuries before. But their interest was in the present day (171). The overall theme of this chapter had to do with cultural legacies and their power for the future, which is explained in the statement on page 175, “Cultural legacies are powerful forces. They have deep roots and long lives. They persist, generation after generation, virtually intact, even as the economic and social and demographic conditions that spawned the have vanished, and they play such a role in directing attitudes and behavior that we cannot make sense of our world without them” (175).
Chapter 7 opens with a horrific play by play of the crash of Korean Air flight 801. The author expands the idea of plane crashes with multiple examples and quickly brings up that point about how these crashes caused Korean Air’s reputation to fail. Despite the rough patch Korean Air was able to turn their reputation around. They became aware of the problem and their duty to their country and turned its reputation around. The author then goes into detail about plane crashes and explains that they can occur because of a minor difficulty. Veteran pilot Suren Ratwattee is introduced and he talks about his own experience on his way over from Dubai. Ratawatee was caught in a difficult situation and had to make a smart choice about how to land the plane safely. In order to do so he needed to be a good leader, communicate with others, and be adaptable to the situation, which allowed him to safely land the aircraft. By contrast, Gladwell provides the transcript from Avianca 052 who failed to land properly due to miscommunication, lack of leadership ability and integrity. He further explains the crash by introducing the idea of the Power Distance Index. “Power distance is concerned with attitudes toward hierarchy, specifically with how much a particular culture, values and respects authority” (205). Gladwell believes that the main reason the plane crashed was because of the power distance between the pilot and his subordinate. The author then brings back the storyline of Korean Air flight 801 and examines that the flight failed because of lack of communication. This loss created reasons for Korean Air to make improvements, which they did by improving proficiency with the English language. Overall, the theme that stays constant throughout this chapter is the one of success and failure. Through different experiences people learn to benefit from their opportunities and improve from their mistakes in order to succeed in the future.
The heading “Rice Paddies and Math Tests” relates to the main focus of the chapter. Gladwell begins the chapter by illustrating the multiple steps it takes to grow rice paddies, emphasizing the point that rice has been cultivated in China for thousands of years. Next, the Chinese number system is brought up due to its “logical counting system”. The regularity in the system provides advantages for Asian children, because they are able to learn faster than American children, specifically in subjects such as mathematics. The author relates the point about having advantages back to the roots in a group’s culture. “In the case of the Koreans, one kind of deeply rooted legacy stood in the way of the very modern task of flying an airplane. Here was have another kind of legacy, one that turns out to be perfectly suited for twenty-first-century tasks. Cultural legacies matter, and once we’ve seen the surprising effects of such things such as power distance and numbers” (231-232). The cultural legacy of rice farmers has taught farmers to have patience, determination, perseverance, continuous practice, understanding what it means to do meaningful work and how to succeed. “The harder you work a rice field, the more it yields. Second, it’s complex work… He or she effectively funs a small business, juggling a family workforce, hedging uncertainty through seed selection, building and managing a sophisticated irrigation system and coordinating he complicated process of harvesting the first crop while simultaneously preparing for the second crop” (236). Then next section is about Alan Schoenfeld, a math professor who videotaped a woman named Renee as she tried to solve a math problem. She goes through various steps and continues to have persistence no matter how long it takes her until she found the correct answer. According to Schoenfeld, “success is a function of persistence and doggedness and the willingness to work hard for twenty-two minutes to make sense of something that most people would give up on after thirty seconds” (246). This all relates back to the original store about rice farmers. In order to succeed it requires patience, persistence, practice and dedication.
The final chapter is about the American school system and illustrated by the story of KIPP public school. It’s located in a poor neighborhood and students who attend usually come from a one parent, low income household. Based on these statements, many would believe the school is nothing special, however they are wrong. At KIPP students perform are high performing due to the expectations of homework, extracurricular, and constant learning. The author then goes on to talk about how underprivileged students typically perform better than privileged students during school, however during the summer months it is reversed, because underprivileged students are not provided with opportunities to continue their learning during, which ultimately sets
them back when they return to school in August. This is where the KIPP school becomes the solution. KIPP starts at 7:35am and goes until 5pm. “The beginning is hard, he went on. By the end of the day they’re restless. Part of it is endurance, part of it is motivation. Part of it is incentives and rewards and fun stuff. Part of it is good old-fashion discipline. You throw all of that into stew. We talk a lot here about grit and self-control. The kids know what those words mean” (261). Children are expected to give up a lot to attend this school, but it is all beneficial in the end. Marita, a low-income student story is an example of a child who had to give up things such as friends, play, and sleep in order to achieve at the opportunity she was given. In her situation she could not get what she needed to succeed. KIPP was her opportunity and she had to forfeit everything else in her life in order to make it worth her while. This chapter explains that not all people are given the same opportunities to succeed. Often times, many people have to work harder to achieve the same goal. In order to do so it takes determination and dedication, but in the end, it is worth it.
The author concludes the novel with an epilogue about his own personal life. He explains the heritage of his family and how he got to where he was today. The one quote that really sums up the novel is, “They are products of history and community, of opportunity and legacy. Their success is not exceptional or mysterious. It is grounded in a web of advantages and inheritances, some deserved, some not, some earned, some just plain lucky—but all critical to making them who they are. The outlier, in the end, is not an outlier at all” (285). Through all the success stories, Gladwell shows how each person’s story is different, but by being presented with opportunities is how people succeed.
The book, Outliers: The Story of Success is relevant to Economics 314 because it talks about how using your resources and opportunities to succeed, which is similar when it comes to succeeding in the real world.