Outliers

November25

I’ve been a fan of Malcolm Gladwell since his first book, Tipping Point, where he showed why [I love knowing why] little things can make a big difference.   Tipping Point gave me business hope. I appreciate hope.

I learned from a publisher that I did what everyone else did when Gladwell’s second book came out.  I walked into the store, saw the stack, and with an outstretched hand walked to touch the cover. Blink is about the two-second window of knowing that allows people to be ahead of the curve. Blink gave me knowledge. I like knowledge.

Last week, walking shoulders bent against frosty wind in downtown Toronto, I saw Outliers in the window of a closed bookstore. Nothing would do, then, but to find an open bookstore!  Outliers lays out the differences people who achieve great success have in common. Startlingly, they seem random, until explained. Great hockey players are born in January. A child born in September is unlikely to make the cut. Big firm Wall Street lawyers were born in 1934 to parents in the garment industry. Lawyers whose fathers were lawyers weren’t attracted to the now lucrative field. Success comes after 10,000 hours of practice. Children whose parents don’t give them those hours are unlikely to be outliers; people whose success in astoundingly beyond normal. Gladwell is one of my favorite non-fiction writers because of his skill as a weaver. In all three books he leads with point A, then, in chapter two introduces point B and shows how A is incorporated. In chapter three he introduces point C, then weaves in the knowledge of A and B. Outliers gives me direction. I value direction.

posted under Book

“Outliers”

1. On December 12th, 2008 at 10:48 am Sandy Weaver Carman Says:

   Ok…add something to my list for Santa! Wendy, thank you not only for the heads-up, but also for spotlighting a great thinker’s work. Like you, I devoured Gladwell’s first two books, and look forward to reading this one.

   Not a lot of non-fiction authors inspire that sort of loyalty, and you might not be surprised to learn that James Michener was one of my favorite fiction authors, because he told not only wove a good fiction story, he set it solidly in a non-fiction frame of reference, adding hope, knowledge and direction to my view of the world.

   Happy December…hope your holidays are wonderful!
   # Posted By Sandy Weaver Carman | 12/1/08 4:25 PM

2. On December 12th, 2008 at 10:49 am Wendy Kinney Says:

   Hum. Why is it that non-fiction writers don’t inspire loyalty as commonly as fiction writers?

   Hypothesis #1: More people read fiction.
   Hypothesis #2: More non-fiction writers write only one book. (Jonathan Kellerman published book 4 before he could quite his day job.)
   Hypothesis #3: Non-fiction writers get published for the “content” without regard to writing style – therefore, there are more poorly written non-fiction books published. (ouch. this is my fear.)
   # Posted By Wendy Kinney | 12/2/08 4:00 PM

3. On January 17th, 2010 at 12:49 pm Wendy's Desk » Blog Archive » SWAY: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior Says:

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