Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

Perhaps my online-book-shopping methodology is catching up with me. I usually do my book shopping on Amazon's Charts. The primary problem I've discovered from this methodology is that I miss out on the bestsellers from earlier years, since the Charts are composed of the newest bestsellers. I've missed out on a lot of good bestsellers, which I plan on revisiting, one of which is Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell, published in 2008. When I posted a story on Instagram about this book today, several people replied to me saying they’ve also read (and really enjoyed!) this book. Apparently, this book is quite popular and well-known, yet I’d just become aware of it last week! The examples in the book blew my mind every step of the way, and Gladwell’s research is truly insightful. 

Outliers is riveting from page 1. Gladwell begins by discussing how history and opportunity play a role in a person’s success and he makes the argument that success is not so “random” an occurrence. He first analyzes star-hockey players. For years, many people have been trying to figure out what it takes to be a hockey star. Of course, hard work, talent, dedication, and physical size play a tremendous role in determining how successful the athlete will be. However, Gladwell notices that most star hockey players are born in the months January, February, and March, with the fewest athletes born in fall and the last couple months of the year.  He wonders why this trend occurs.

It turns out that there is a logical, and utterly random reason, as to why this pattern persists: little league cutoff dates are on January 1. What this cutoff date suggests is that hypothetically, on a given team, there could be a person born on January 1 and a person born on December 31. They’re almost a year apart, which doesn’t seem like a lot, but the December 31 kid is a day too old to play the younger team, so they’re stuck being the youngest on the older team. While a year doesn’t seem like much, there’s a major gap in the physical development between the two players. The January 1st kid will probably be bigger, faster, and stronger, making the coaches want to spend more time coaching them and give them more play time. The difference between these two players will, therefore, start out very small, but year by year, the difference in their skill levels will differ greatly with the extra play time and coaching. One of Malcolm Gladwell’s primary claims in Outliers is that timing is one of the most crucial and uncontrollable aspects of successful people. Building upon this principle, Gladwell explores how the Beatles and Bill Gates are connected, the secret behind geniuses, and how 1930 and being in the garment industry sets one up to be a successful lawyer in NYC. 

The first part of Outliers was certainly my favorite, though the second part none the less captivated me. Part 2 focuses more on how culture plays a role in outliers. My favorite example in the second part is Gladwell’s analysis of plane crashes, and how where the pilot and his crew are from influences the chance that an accident will happen. The chapter of the book analyzes the Power Distance Index, developed by Geert Hofstede. This index measures the distribution of power between nations and I believe one of the primary ways Hofstede’s measures this index is through seeing how likely individuals are to stand up to/rebel against authority with whom they disagree. Meanwhile, Gladwell uses recordings from the cockpits of planes that crashed in the past, and analyzes how first officers and flight engineers from high PDI countries are less likely to directly report when a something on the plane is malfunctioning. This chapter analyzes the inherent nature of cultural habits and ways of communication between ordinary people and authority from country to country. Part 2 of Outliers also analyzes how history and the culture that has been developed around that historical event has influenced people’s behaviors and successes in the modern world. 

I would recommend Outliers to anyone looking for a fast read that’s meaningful. I honestly started seeing things in a way I hadn’t thought of before. While Gladwell may be perceived by some as taking a pessimistic viewpoint on the success, I think he presents ample evidence and reassures readers that no one succeeds on their own. I found Outliers on the “Stay Curious” table at the COOP in Harvard Square. I think that’s a fitting description.