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Malcolm Gladwell

Outliers: The Story of Success Paperback – June 7, 2011

by Malcolm Gladwell (Author)

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In this stunning new 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.

Print length

336 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Back Bay Books
Publication date

June 7, 2011
Dimensions

5.45 x 1.15 x 8.25 inches
ISBN-10

0316017930
ISBN-13

978-0316017930
Lexile measure

1080L
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Popular Highlights in this book

What are popular highlights?

Success is the result of what sociologists like to call “accumulative advantage.”
Highlighted by 12,453 Kindle readers
Practice isn’t the thing you do once you’re good. It’s the thing you do that makes you good.
Highlighted by 10,443 Kindle readers
But what truly distinguishes their histories is not their extraordinary talent but their extraordinary opportunities.
Highlighted by 8,136 Kindle readers

Editorial Reviews

Review

"In the vast world of nonfiction writing, Malcolm Gladwell is as close to a singular talent as exists today...Outliers is a pleasure to read and leaves you mulling over its inventive theories for days afterward."―David Leonhardt, New York Times Book Review

"The explosively entertaining Outliers might be Gladwell's best and most useful work yet...There are both brilliant yarns and life lessons here: Outliers is riveting science, self-help, and entertainment, all in one book."―Gregory Kirschling, Entertainment Weekly

"No other book I read this year combines such a distinctive prose style with truly thought-provoking content. Gladwell writes with a high degree of dazzle but at the same time remains as clear and direct as even Strunk or White could hope for."―Atlanta Journal Constitution

About the Author

Malcolm Gladwell is the author of five New York Times bestsellers: The Tipping Point,Blink, Outliers,What the Dog Saw, and David and Goliath. He is also the co-founder of Pushkin Industries, an audio content company that produces the podcasts Revisionist History, which reconsiders things both overlooked and misunderstood, and Broken Record, where he, Rick Rubin, and Bruce Headlam interview musicians across a wide range of genres. Gladwell has been included in the Time 100 Most Influential People list and touted as one of Foreign Policy'sTop Global Thinkers.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Back Bay Books; Reprint edition (June 7, 2011)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0316017930
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0316017930
Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 1080L
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.6 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.45 x 1.15 x 8.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #909 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #8 in Decision-Making & Problem Solving
- #15 in Popular Social Psychology & Interactions
- #52 in Success Self-Help

Customer Reviews:
4.6 35,646 ratings

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Malcolm Gladwell

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Malcolm Gladwell has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 1996. He is the author of The Tipping Point, Blink, Outliers, and What the Dog Saw. Prior to joining The New Yorker, he was a reporter at the Washington Post. Gladwell was born in England and grew up in rural Ontario. He now lives in New York.

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Brian

A Great Book to Change Your Perspective on Success

Reviewed in the United States on May 2, 2023

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This was a book I picked up after reading a political book that I just finished about mens issues. It was referenced and it was to my curiosity to see what it was all about since the main topic of discussion was success. I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

With that being said, this was one of the best books that I have ever read about outliers. The whole purpose of this book is to redefine the way we view success. Success is not only due sheer effort and hard work as we hear from most success stories, but it also due to the sheer amount of opportunities that people had. Whether it be out of pure luck or due to their cultural roots.

The author does a great job in proving those two points with the sheer amount of examples and stories that he provides. Not only providing us with accurate scientific information, but also making it enjoyable and easier for most people to pick up. I was engaged in every story that he told and was fascinated to see how he broke down all the details that he needed to prove his point. From stories about the tech era, to the airline industries and so much more. To even feel sympathy for some of the people in these stories and saw all of all these things that happened in these people lives, whether they became outliers or not came into fruition. I was engaged in it all.

This is one of the books that you probably thought to yourself when you see two people of the same caliber and think to yourself why aren't they both successful. Why did only one of them become an outlier while the other didn't even knowing they both skilled at whatever profession they are in (same profession to be exact). This book not only aligned with the idea with the idea that I had about success, but proved it even more. Showing that some opportunities that are given to you is the biggest factor when it comes to being successful. Being there are the right the time or just simply someone giving you the helping hand that is needed.

This is a perfect book in my eyes and I would highly recommend this to all.

3 people found this helpful

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Mitchell Vega

A collective sigh of relief from gifted underachievers everywhere

Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2012

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It's funny - despite my general openness about personal matters, this is probably the subject I am least comfortable talking about. When someone is a genius, you go through the first 20 years of your life constantly trying to hide it so as not to be seen as a pointdexter, sycophant or snob. "Oh, it must be so HARD to memorize a complicated song in one day or ace all your tests without studying, tell me more about the problems in your life" you imagine 'friends' sneering behind your back, rolling their eyes. The effortless ease with which highly gifted people take on tasks is actually a highly calculated veneer over the same frustrating obstacles as others without seeming arrogant while doing so. The enormous expectation to not just do one's best but to constantly dominate your previous record and everyone else's leads to the eventual sinking realization that there simply is not room in this world for more than one "the best". As both popular science and psychology are starting to confirm, being a genius is in no way a predictor of life success despite every individual's good fortune and efforts, and Malcolm Gladwell's book 'Outliers' is the best and most accessible explanation I've read as to why.

Impressing people without even meaning to is one of the earliest memories I have in life. After devouring all of the chapter and picture books I could get my hands on at pre-school age, my parent's classics and old science textbooks (or at least the ones I could reach off the bottom shelf) seemed the next natural step. Dad frequently retells a story in which he asks me as a toddler how I got to be so smart; I replied "good genes". Public school has no idea what to do with a kid who signs up for kindergarten being already able to read novels, play piano sheet music and execute batch files in DOS. I was tested at age 7 with an IQ of 163 upon entering the second grade, having already been skipped a grade ahead as well as being a year younger still due to having a September birthday. This conflict between being significantly younger than my peers at a critical age of development and also several standard deviations more intelligent than them was to be a continual source of strife. I begged and pleaded with my parents not to hold me back, not understanding the implications of being so much less emotionally mature than my peers. On the first day of class I got sent to the principal's office for taking my shoes off and refusing to put them back on. At 9, the teachers were fed up with me reading or drawing and 'distracting others' in class but also couldn't fail me when I was getting perfect grades, so I was pulled out and sent to a private school for the gifted, where after a year of constant boredom (diagnosed and medicated as ADHD) and other behavioral problems my teachers treated me as a class scapegoat and suggest that I be better off homeschooled or back in public school. These events marked the beginning of a long scholastic career of underachievement, contempt of authority, and befuddled administrators who weren't sure whether I belonged in the gifted program or Special Ed.

I was lucky enough to be born into a white, middle class family in one of the most highly educated and prosperous parts of the United States. My parents were psychology majors who read all the right books and took all the proper steps in terms of nurturing the development of a gifted child without stifling or overloading me. So why am I not in the same percentile of overall life success as I am in test score range? Gladwell goes into the many statistical reasons why the high-IQ child is no more likely to become successful than any other child when demographic influences are controlled for, some factors as completely out of our control as being born in the wrong month of the year. He also gets down to what I believe is the true difference between successful and unsuccessful people, the willingness to work hard. If I had been self-disciplined enough to put in the hours academically to master unfavorable subjects with the same voracity with which I took to computers, art, music and reading, plus a less cynical attitude towards the school system, I might have gotten a full ride scholarship to any of the best universities in the world. As it is, I'll have to settle for a community college degree acquired at age 19, being published and owning my own business by 21, and knowing that if I do desire to learn a new skill at any point in life, the only thing standing in my way is myself. (Though, as a side note, I definitely pick up new skills a lot slower than I used to as a child and find myself stymied more often, indications that my IQ has dropped either from aging or drug/alcohol use, something that I try to compensate for with extra patience).

Though it will always be embarrassing and awkward, I've gotten used to the incredulous stares and people asking "how did you do that", though I never had a particularly good answer. "Lots of practice, the opportunity to be in the right place at the right time, and luck" is the old standby, though it sometimes felt insincere. Now, thanks to 'Outliers', I realize that's not an overly humble explanation of genius. If I ever have kids, I will not subject them to a barrage of tests in order to find out exactly how "special" they are. I will accept that they are special simply on the virtue that they are them, listen to them to find out what they truly love to do and push them to achieve high but realistic expectations. And that's my advice for children of all ages - do what it takes to be whatever you want to be and do the hell out of it.

59 people found this helpful

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Spectrum314k

Journalism and pseudoscience

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 12, 2017

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Having read lots of favourable reviews, I was extremely disappointed. The book essentially argues against the notion that people are born to succeed. If you believe that success is a bit more complicated than that, you may be in for a tedious time ahead as it laboriously tries to convince you against something you never thought in the first place. There is simply not enough here for a book and so the material is stretched out, presenting points that would be common sense to most people seemly expecting the result to be paradigm shifting revelations to the reader. It circles around the same points approaching from a variety of angles, while ignoring any counter arguments you feel should be addressed.

Despite being reported as being "inspiring" (it's literally on the front page), it's hard to see why. The book argues the point that success can be largely attributed to a person's circumstances. As most of these are out with anyone's control e.g. the time of year you are born, I struggle to see how anyone could be inspired. The best I can imagine is that someone will feel better that they were not the next success because of factors beyond their control.

The book tries to make its point by cherry picking studies and examples that will help prove his point. I found one response from authors of a study stating that they thought that Gladwell had misinterpreted and oversimplified their findings and I strongly suspect they were not alone. It presents a series of anecdotes and hypotheses as to why a trend was observed. My issue is that these hypotheses, that are all in keeping with the central theme of the book, are presented as if they were facts, when they are anything but. There is no attempt to give a balanced discussion, exploring arguments, studies or examples not in keeping with the oversimplified central point. Let's be clear, this method of starting with a point you want to make and then working backwards finding "evidence" to prove your view is journalism, not science. Gladwell can dress it up as much as he likes with statistics and citations, but don't be fooled, this is not how anyone with any scientific credentials works. Within a few pages I realised I was not reading a book by an expert in the field attempting to make their work accessible to the public, this was written by someone who could write a good story, but had little or no understanding of the scientific method. The book reads like an extended magazine article, perhaps not surprisingly as I was later to find out that the author is indeed a magazine writer.

You will not learn how to be successful by reading this book. You will not be better informed about what makes someone successful. At best this is a thought piece with a few discussion points worthy of a conversation at your next dinner party and others may enjoy the idea that they could have been as successful as The Beatles or as rich as Bill Gates if they had just been in the right place at the right time. Just a shame that it's not true. I didn't enjoy this book but more than that, I was incensed by it. This is journalism. A pseudoscience stretched out magazine article masquerading as an evidence based insight into success written by a modern day snake oil salesman who has bought into his own hype.

216 people found this helpful

Stiven Skyrah

Salient and grounded

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 3, 2018

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Gladwell argues that success is tightly married to opportunity and time on task. He states that it takes approximately 10,000 hours to master something and that gives me comfort. It helps me feel better about my many failures at initial attempts to master things (like glazing pottery, algebra, Salsa dancing, skiing and sewing... to name a few). I kept thinking, "I've just got to put in more hours if I want to do better."

While I can see a different way of spinning the data provided to support Gladwell's argument, I didn't care. In a rare moment, I found myself not wanting to argue. : ) Instead, I found myself reflecting on things that have felt like lucky opportunities in my own life. This reflection was very humbling.

Moreover, I felt the text tugging at the need for greater equity. What could all the people with limited opportunities do if given greater opportunities? Think Darfur. How many people who might have come up with the cure for pancreatic cancer been forced to spend their time standing in lines waiting for clean water or food?

My own personal experience as a teacher of refugees reflects Gladwell's primary thesis. Many of my refugee students are pre-literate. They have not been given the opportunity to gain a formal education. As a result, there are many well-intended, but misinformed people who place these students in special education courses or deem their I.Q. low, diminishing their opportunities even more.

The students I teach are hungry for skills and spend hours outside of class practising. They make huge gains despite earlier opportunities denied them. While many will not go on to big colleges out of high school, I feel like given enough opportunity and time they could make it there. Sadly, many have families who depend on them to work to help financially support the family. (Yet, another limited opportunity to spend time focused on developing skills.)

In the past week, I have shared Gladwell's thesis with my students. We have applied the 10,000 hours to master a task to reading and writing. I remind students that if we don't get our 10,000 hours this year together, they must continue on their own. I remind them that it IS possible to move forward if they are focused and keep adding hours of work to their reading and writing. We even write on the board how many hours left before we are masters.

"2 hours down, only 9,998 left to go."

Friday, I had a student from Somalia smile and ask, "So it's not true that white people are smarter than black Africans? They just get more chances to read?" Imagine my pleasure when I could respond, "YES! That's correct. You are just as smart as any white kid in this school. It's just that some of them have been reading for years and you are just getting started."

Thank you for your work Gladwell, it is salient in today's political conversation surrounding education (especially for our most vulnerable students who have been given the fewest opportunities).

59 people found this helpful

J C Mitchinson

Interesting enough but certainly no revelation

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 23, 2014

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Basically, this book *reveals* that people don't gain success through talent and hard work alone; rather they have other, often hidden, advantages. These can be cultural, social, financial, and circumstantial. It also suggests that talent + advantages+ 10000 hours of practice = unusual success. This is demonstrated by a set of examples (The Beatles, Bill Gates etc).

Things I liked:

- Interesting to read the stories of how various people came to success

- Well written

- Somewhat vindicating for those of us who already knew the dice were loaded

Reservations:

- How is this a revelation? I felt a bit like this was written for people who are themselves pretty advantaged. If come from a lowly background, with little money or good social connections etc, you KNOW that these things disadvantage you, and you KNOW that those who get ahead, do so because of these advantages.

- There was no follow through. I was expecting (and hoping for) a "but if you don't have these advantages, you can still do X, Y & Z". But there was nothing. So if you aren't advantaged, you end up feeling a bit flat at the end.

Summary: Worth a read

121 people found this helpful

bobrayner

Enjoyable read but scientifically it makes me feel uneasy

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 18, 2020

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I would like to put Gladwell in the same category as Jared Diamond - he writes books that take you on an enjoyable sweep through different places and eras and whole swathes of pop-anthropology but, deep down, I have to wonder *why* he picked a story about dental statistics in 1930s Luxembourg, or the rate of unexplained bus crashes in Peru versus Chile. I can never quite rule out a suspicion of cherry-picking. Which is uncomfortable, because I really *want* to believe these neat stories that let you in on a little secret that underpins whole swathes of the modern world.

Let's go back to a specific example. For instance, Gladwell points out the role of culture in airliner crashes; if aircrew come from cultures that have stronger deference to social superiors, maybe a copilot would shy away from challenging a pilot who'd made a mistake. He works through examples of Korean Airlines crashes that seem to fit this paradigm, and Korea is high up the ranking of countries by deference-to-superiors, and we hear about how Korean Airlines challenged that culture and then had fewer crashes. That's a good story to read! Problem is that we never really tackle the fact that the deadliest airline crash in history involved aircrew from a country which was at the opposite end of the ranking-of-countries. No doubt individual deference to superiors was a factor in that crash too, but CRM alone is pretty boring, people enjoy reading the different-places-different-cultures stories.

I won't say it's all like this; I didn't get such a worry from the study of the backgrounds of lawyers in New York, for instance (maybe we'd see something different if somebody took on the Herculean task of expanding the study to different trades & different national backgrounds, but I don't think the main conclusion would shift much).

7 people found this helpful

Marty M

Fascinating and thought-provoking

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 17, 2019

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It takes a special insight to uncover truths that have always been there, but never been identified. Gladwell brings together evidence - and hindsight - to show how the most special of humans have been the product of their circumstances, opportunities and timing, which allied to hard work and talent makes people outliers. The lesson is that people can thrive only if given the opportunity and resources to do so, and in an oblique way is a damning critique of the winner-takes-all culture in Western societies, and the enormous inequities of inherited wealth and privilege.

17 people found this helpful

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Outliers: The Story of Success Paperback – June 7, 2011

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