Outliers

I just recently finished reading the book, Outliers:  The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell and loved it.  Basically, he takes the reader through several scenarios of people and cultures that have had great success, and concludes that their success is not a product of "genius" but that they are products of history and community, of opportunity and legacy.  "Their success is not exceptional or mysterious, but grounded in a web of advantages and inheritances, some deserved, some not, some earned, some just plain lucky--but all critical to making them who they are."  Extraordinary achievement is less about talent than it is about opportunity.
    Here are some of the things we normally don't think about that greatly influence what we call "success."

*The 10,000 hour rule    The magic number for true expertise or greatness has been found to be 10,000 hours of practice.   In fact, no research has yet found a case in which true world-class expertise was accomplished in less time.  This includes the likes of Mozart, the legendary Bobby Fischer, Bill Gates, and the Beatles, as well as many other famously successful people.  The studies he used said that there really are no such things as "naturals" at anything; they simply work much, MUCH harder than everyone else.

*The Matthew Effect     He states among his research that "It is those who are already successful who are most likely to be given the kinds of special opportunities that lead to further success.  It's the rich who get the biggest tax breaks.  It's the best students who get the best teaching and most attention.  And it's the biggest boys (because of birthdate cut-off dates) who normally get the most coaching and practice.  This last one was especially interesting because if you look at who excels at sports, it's almost always those who because of the cut-off date of age for being on a team are the ones who are the older, and therefore the biggest.  He then states, "We overlook just how large a role we all play--and by we, I mean society--in determining who makes it and who doesn't."

*Intelligence has a threshold, meaning that once a person is determined to have a high IQ, an even higher IQ is of no consequence.  It's like saying if being 6 foot 8 inches helps a basketball player be good, a 7  foot basketball player isn't necessarily better.  In fact, much research has found that intellect and achievement are far from perfectly correlated.  Hmmmm.  I should send this info on to those "experts" who were wrong in their evaluation of Elisabeth.

*The importance of "practical intelligence" includes things like knowing what to say to whom, knowing when to say it, and knowing how to say it for maximum effect.  The presence of general intelligence doesn't necessarily imply the presence of practical intelligence.  FAMILIES, and more notably wealthy families are much more likely to raise children who have practical intelligence.  They also seem to learn a healthy sense of entitlement meaning they act like they have the right to pursue their own individual preferences and can actively manage interactions in institutional settings.

*Successful people don't do it alone.  Where they come from matters.  They're products of particular places and environments.    This made me think about the pursuing of the "American dream" and how the research points to how people in certain demographics, income brackets, certain family dynamics, etc. are so much less or more likely to succeed than others.  The so-called American dream is definitely NOT a level playing field.

*How dramatically culture and ethnicity affects one's chances for success.  Each of us has his or her own distinct personality.  But overlaid on top of that are tendencies and assumptions and reflexes handed down to us by the history of the community we grew up in, and those differences are extraordinarily specific.  For example, attitudes toward hierarchy, individual collectivism (which is how much individuals are expected to look after themselves), and can less powerful members of organizations speak up to authority.

*The Chinese are good at math because, in a nut shell, they have been raised with the "rice paddy" mentality throughout generations.  People who grow rice have always worked harder than almost any other kind of farmer.  The book goes into great detail showing the intricacies of rice farming and why it is so much harder than other kinds of farming.  Working really hard is what successful people do, and the genius of the culture formed in the rice paddies is that hard work gave those in the fields a way to find meaning in the midst of great uncertainty and poverty.  That lesson has served Asians well in many things, but especially in the instance of math.  In general, Asians have been ingrained through time to work harder, longer, and with more persistence than their American counterparts.  They are not smarter than us, they are more patient and willing to put in the hard work to succeed at something that is very hard.

*The last thing I learned from this book was about the KIPP Academy in the slums of NYC which is an experimental public school in which they have adopted the Asian way of educating and have thus become one of the top academic schools in the nation.  They take in students beginning 7th grade by lottery where 84% are performing below grade level, and by the end of 8th grade, 84% are performing at or above grade level.  Now that is some sobering information because it means that we, as a nation, are failing these children because given the opportunity apparently, they could all (or most) be successful.  Aiding in an individual's success, only serves to make us as a nation stronger.   "Asian" educating means longer school days (8-5pm), Saturday school (8-1), school through the summer (8-2pm), incentive and reward systems to keep them motivated, and teachers that are expected to always be accessible to the students.  In the US, school is 180 days per year.  In Japan, it is 243 days per year, and the days are longer.  No wonder they are out-testing us in every area.

The conclusion?  Success follows a predictable course.  It is not the brightest who succeed.  Outliers have been given opportunities and have the strength and presence of mind to seize them.  They are born at the right time with the right parents and the right ethnicity.  The author suggests that to build a better world we need to replace the patchwork of lucky breaks and arbitrary advantages with a society that provides opportunities for all.  I'm not sure I completely agree with his conclusion (although maybe I do), but this book has made me think differently about the idea of success, and those who succeed.  Sometimes someone just needs a chance.