Outliers – The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell

Once again just like the previous one, Blink, lots of case studies and statistics. Also just like the previous book he starts out with a story of health and heart attacks and how this one group of people were immune to the same health issues their neighbouring village had… why? Because they had a better sense of community and 3 generations eating together etc. I love it because I’m not into novels when you can use that reading to get your learn on and in one book this guy fits in the most random stories and starts weaving them around till they add up. In this one he digs into what success is all about. It has to do with your history from upbringing, culture, race, age, opportunities, etc.

I’ll give you a few examples…
1 – Canadian students born closer to the start of the year have way better chances at being pros later on. Because the cut-off date for selection is Jan 1st.

2 – 10,000 hours or 10 years of practice will lead you to success. Related stories of how the Beatles played in Hamburg, Bill Gates and his opportunities at an early age to give in those 10,000 hours.

3 – Story of how Bill Gates (Windows) and Steve Jobs (Apple) were born in 1955. The perfect age to get the right opportunities to be a computer superstar.

4 – How IQ is not as significant as Harvard make it. Like there are better geniuses our there but they’re not discovered because of chances or poverty, etc. You get?

5 – How underdog Jews found success against all odds in Wall Street… turns out you needed a combo of being Jew, being in the right demographic and in the garment industry. Yes it goes like that Gramps would have to be a tailor so dad would be a garment maker so I could be a lawyer. The other pattern was Leather Tanner > Bag Manufacturer > Lawyer or doctor. Crazy ay?

6 – This one really opened my mind. Even after generations have passed and they’ve even settled in a new country… a community with a mentality is still stuck in it… the whole story was of how folks would fight over honour. May have started as a one to one… then families would get involved… generations would be going at it toe to toe. All because of fighting and dying for that ‘honour’. Very interesting tests were taken at the Uni of Michigan where first they figured that ‘asshole’ would be the most volatile word to use. Then it was used on students and turns out Southeners reacted far more. Even their cortisol and testosterone jumped.

7 – I don’t even know how to start with how they figured out the issues of plane crashes and how ethnicity was such a big factor. Since then a transcript from Avianca 052 is used as an example. And how one sucky airline got to the top.

8 – Asians are good at studies especially math because of their work on rice paddies and the numbering system in their language is designed to be perfect for math. Plus their mentality made them not give till they figure it out kinda thing.

9 – How summer holidays are so crucial for grades. While the rich kids were still getting tutored. The poor kids had to stay out of parents way as they work and find their own entertainment kinda thing.
Oh and there was a bit where kids upbringing mattered. Like it was noticed high and middle class parents bothered to talk to kids and make them ‘individuals’. E.g. before going to the doctor the parent asks if kids knows what he’s going to ask the doctor and stuff like that. While the poor folks had that mentality of kids shouldn’t be heard and told what to do kinda thing. And how that connects to how they wont stand up for their ‘rights’ and stuff when it comes down to the crunch. I don’t remember it too well coz it took me ages to read this book.

10 – The authors family story of success especially his moms and how success depended a lot on how light skin a half-cast (mulatto) was in Jamaica back in the slave days.
Big up Viv for lending me this one.

Contents:
– Introduction: The Roseto Mystery. “These people were dying of old age. That’s it.”
Part One: Opportunity

– 1: The Matthew Effect. “For unto everyone that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance. But from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.” – Matthew 25:29

– 2: The 10,000-Hour Rule. “In Hamburg, we had to play for eight hours.”

– 3: The Trouble with Geniuses, Part 1. “Knowledge of a boy’s IQ is of little help if you are faced with a formful or clever boys.”

– 4: The Trouble with Geniuses, Part 2. “After protracted negotiations, it was agreed that Robert would be put on probation.”

– 5: The Three Lessons of Joe Flom. “Mary got a quarter”
Part Two: Legacy

– 6: Harlan, Kentucky. “Die like a man, like your brother did!”

– 7: The Ethnic Theory of Plane Crashes. “Captain, the weather radar has helped us a lot.”

– 8: Rice Paddies and Math Tests. “No one who can rise before dawn three hundred sixty days a year fails to make his family rich.”

– 9: Marita’s Bargain. “All my friends are from KIPP.”

– Epilogue: A Jamaican Story. “If a progeny of young colored children is brought forth, these are emancipated.”

– Notes.

– Acknowledgements.