Why were Bill Gates or the Beatles so successful? They were obviously good at what they did – whether that was software programming or playing music – they worked hard, but they were also lucky. They were in the right place at the right time. Malcolm Gladwell explains that your culture, family, friends and even where and when you were born have a profound effect on who you are. It’s not just about how smart you are; an individual cannot be successful in isolation. Gladwell even tells us why some pilots are less likely to crash planes than others.
He explains that most people don’t mind (and often enjoy) working hard, as long as the work is meaningful. For work to be satisfying it needs to be complex and autonomous, with a relationship between effort and reward. The money we make is less important than whether or not the work fulfils us.
Malcolm Gladwell is a great storyteller. In the last chapter he tells a story about his mother and grandmother to explain how chance shaped their lives and therefore his too. This choice of story is an example of good communicating – it’s relevant but also personal, so as a reader you feel like you get to know Gladwell.
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Product Description
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.
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