Book 10 - Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

You all know Malcolm Gladwell - prominent author of relevant "business" books such as Blink and The Tipping Point. Gladwell is clearly a research expert who has a gift for applying psychological, economic, and sociological factors to a person's success. It is clear that Gladwell is an extremely intelligent man and an educated author. He knows his audience and he knows his boundaries - in that he seems to know how far he can take his analogies and hypotheses before annoying his audience.

Scratch that. He almost knows his boundaries - at least when it comes to me. I do sincerely believe that Malcolm Gladwell has relevant, pertinent, even revelatory, things to say; ideas that we should investigate and explore. I believe that and so does Malcolm.

I haven't read The Tipping Point or Blink, but they're on my list. These are the types of books that it seems "important" to read. Outliers is similar - I am, in the end, glad I read it - but from what I understand (through verbal and web-based reviews), Gladwell peaked early. Each of his books offers important points but there is the feeling that some of the points are being repeated.

Additionally, there might be some stretching at this point. Do I believe that our success is determined by factors outside our control (age, opportunity, focus)? Yes, of course I do. The chance of getting ahead based on sheer intelligence is minute. However, I don't believe that it's all out of our control either. Sure, the Beatles (Bill Gates, etc.) had the right opportunities and the right birthdays but they were also extremely talented, intelligent, dedicated people. I know that Malcolm Gladwell isn't trying to tell me that it's all about how old you are or your opportunities, but just the same - I could have used one less example (50 pages?) of how those things are important.

You can find out what Malcolm Gladwell thinks of his book over at Gladwell.com.