Culture of Success

I just finished reading Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell (author of The Tipping Point and Blink). This is a must-read book. You probably think you know why some individuals are successful and others are not, but you are probably wrong, at least according to Gladwell.

Why are the vast majority of successful Canadian hockey players born in January, February, and March? How do rice paddies and the way in which numbers are encoded in language relate to success in math for many East Asians? Why does the year in which someone is born lead to or inhibit that person’s chances for success? What is the 10,000 hour rule? How can deference to superiors lead to air disasters? Why would a culture of honor created hundreds of years ago and thousands of miles away still have an impact in the 21st century? Can the differences in academic achievement between rich and poor be as simple as the difference between summer vacations and year-round schooling?

These are some of the questions Gladwell raises and answers in his extremely entertaining and enlightening book. This is a book that so intrigued me that I didn’t want to put it down. I do not want to provide more detail about the book at this point because I strongly encourage everyone to read it for themselves. However, I would like to have a conversation on this blog with anyone who has read the book and wishes to discuss Gladwell’s insights further.