Book Review - "Outliers -The Story of Success"

"Outliers" is the third book from Malcom Gladwell and follows his previously successful books, "The Tipping Point" and "Blink". It's a well written and entertaining book. In this book the key question that is raised is why do some people succeed. He poses the view that the success stories we read about are not the work of self made men but they are beneficiaries of hidden advantages and special opportunities. The book starts a conversation about the complex ways privilege shows up in out society.

There are some fascinating stories about the hidden factors for success as manifested for hockey players, Jewish lawyers, computer billionaires, Asian math students, and his own families history in Jamaica. All the stories are fascinating and make you think harder and look below the surface of success stories yet I get the feeling that just like Mr Gladwell points out the complexities of success that the real truth is more complex than the author would have you believe. I'm sure he has chose the stories that support his thesis and left out the ones that don't.

Yet it is enlightening to read about the cultural causes for airplane crashes or the role that the economy's of Asian countries with rice paddies play in education or the long term causes of cultural history on violence in Harlan County.

The story of the charter KIPP school in the South Bronx (where I grew up) and the lessons of the negative role that summer vacation has on the education achievement of poor kids is also very interesting.

So overall I enjoyed the book and while I may agree that some of the cases he cited may be true and of course success in rarely a one person deal I don't think it explains away all the Horatio Alger type stories or that all success stories can fit into the patterns Mr Gladwell cites.

Take Aways:
* "No one who can rise before dawn three hundred and sixty days a year fails to make his family rich"
* Cultural legacies are powerful forces (Positive or Negative)
* Virtually all success stories ...so far involves someone or some group working harder than their peers"
* Being good at math is not so much ability as attitude. You master mathematics if you are willing to try. (Like most things in life)
* True expertise in a subject, field or activity take 10,000 hours ( That is a lot of hours)
* There are two main parenting philosophies that are usually divided along class lines. Middle Class - "Concerted Cultivation" , Poor - "Accomplishment of natural growth". One is hands on and one is hands off.