Malcom Gladwell popularized the term Outlier with his best-seller Outliers: The Story of Success.
Outliers earned critical acclaim for its exploration of the circumstances and environments that lead to success.
It doesn’t just highlight high-achievers. It breaks down how and why they made an impact — and it’s not just hard work and talent.
Here are 5 key takeaways:
1. 10,000 Hour Rule
Gladwell popularized the concept that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to master a skill. While this exact metric is difficult to prove, the message is that harnessing a skill to an exceptional amount of time, refining and resources.
Whether it’s The Beatles or Bill Gates, those considered the best dedicate significant parts of their life honing their craft— usually long before fame and recognition.
This has absolutely changed with the rise of social media and “going viral” for a fleeting moment caught on camera.
At the same time, the chance of going viral is roughly one in a million.
Deliberate practice combined with helpful resources and opportunities is critical.
2. Time is of the essence
The saying “being at the right place at the right time” definitely came from somewhere.
There are windows of opportunity across time and space that are ripe for the ascension to success. This is, of course, in tandem with hard work, resilience and determination.
Gladwell uses the example of Bill Gates, who was born in the mid-50s to wealthy parents and a family of mathematic minds.
In childhood, he had access to computer technology that was very uncommon at the time. And was foundational to his development and later success.
He also notes that hockey players born earlier in the year (closer to the age cutoff for the league) are often larger and more physically developed than those born later, contributing to a competitive edge.
Timing, historical events and generational context can play a powerful and often invisible role in achieving greatness.
3. Origin stories
Gladwell is serious about the power of cultural legacies — the beliefs, values, habits and mindsets transferred between generations.
An example of this is how girls are perceived as “bad” at math. The insidiousness of that belief is internalized and manifests into limiting behavior.
Evidence suggests that teachers’ stereotypes about girls’ math ability undermines their confidence and can lead to lower scores on math tests.
Gladwell emphasizes how cultural norms and traditional beliefs can impact how effectively we work, communicate, learn and perform.
Developing an awareness of our own biases about ourselves and others can help shatter damaging patterns and actions.
This type of self-work can create greater opportunities, a more enriched life and help others, as well as ourselves, succeed.
4. Self-made is a myth
No one makes it alone or purely on individual merit. Gladwell asserts that being self-made is a myth. As social beings, we are inherently impacted and reactive to the social structures and people around us.
Behind every self-made success story is a web of mentors, whether directly or indirectly, support systems, and lucky breaks.
Gladwell drives home that success often comes down to access—access to education, community, finances or even just one person who is willing to give us a shot.
It’s not just about pulling yourself up by the bootstraps; it’s about finding the boots in the first place.
5. What does “Genius” mean?
We tend to pedestalize those with a high IQ. Gladwell challenges that by claiming intelligence only gets you so far. On top of that, IQ tests have been largely dubunked as a key indicator of intelligence.
IQ tests are valuable in measuring certain mental faculties, including logic, abstract reasoning, learning ability and working-memory.
But IQ tests don’t measure the ability to critically assess and judge real-life situations. They can’t assess someone’s ability to analyze of information, or whether they can catch intuitive cognitive biases in action that can lead us astray.
Social skills, adaptability, and knowing how to navigate the world are equally as important as book smarts.
It’s not always the people who know the most information who—it’s the ones who know how to use what they know in the real world.
Excluded
Outliers lays out how success isn’t as random or as individual as we might think. Hard work matters and it counts. But so does opportunity, timing, and what is taking place in the world around us.
So many gifted people have been denied the chance to reach high levels of success due to racism, sexism, classism and other forms of discrimination.
Gladwell reinforces the idea that success is a blend of our social environment and that drive within.
What is your favourite takeaway?
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