Book Review: Outliers

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I enjoy books that make me look at an issue from a completely new perspective. It’s unsurprising, then, that I enjoyed Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink and especially his The Tipping Point, both of which discussed rather everyday phenomena (decision-making and epidemics) from fresh angles.

When one of Hubby’s colleagues shared with us his copy of Gladwell’s latest book, Outliers, I was intrigued. After Hubby sat up late one night reading me excerpts from a chapter, I was hooked. And when I finally got my hands on the book to read for myself, it became for me one of those obsessive reads that are completed in a few hours.

The phenomenon at issue in Outliers is personal success. Gladwell wonders, along with multitudes of other authors before him, what exactly it is that makes a person an “outlier” — someone who is remarkably, unforgettably successful. (Think Bill Gates.)

Where Gladwell differs from other authors is his search for an explanation beyond individual giftedness and characteristics.

Sure — successful people are often intelligent or ambitious or talented. We can all agree that Bill Gates is no fool. However, there are lots of intelligent, ambitious, and talented people who do not become the runaway successes that others do. Bill Gates was not the only person in his generation possessing a high IQ and loads of ambition, so why him?

Gladwell proposes that a person’s innate qualities are necessary but insufficient to explain his or her success. That person must be given opportunities, many of which are determined randomly, socially, and culturally.

To use the example that Gladwell begins his book with, hockey players who reach pro level are overwhelmingly born in the first half of the year. The reason? The age cut-off for hockey levels is January 1, so players born in the first half of the year are at an early age typically more developed and skilled than their fellow players born in the latter half of the year. They’ve had more time to grow! That small advantage turns into a huge advantage when they are selected to participate in more advanced leagues, where they have more access to rinks. These players are able to log thousands of hours of practice that overlooked players simply cannot, so by the time they reach their late teens they genuinely are better players. The random chance of birth date has, through the opportunity of practice, been translated into a real and insurmountable advantage.

As a mother, what made my heart sink was learning that this same age advantage is noticed in other areas of life, including education. In North America, children born in the latter half of the year are in classes with children born at the beginning of the year. The September – December kindergarten children are months younger than many of their classmates, at an age where months of development make a large difference in ability. This difference is reinforced through routine educational exchanges: the older children typically will succeed in mastering skills earlier and more consistently, will be praised, and will be encouraged to develop further. Younger children, on the other hand, will more frequently encounter challenges, and can tend to associate learning with frustration and sometimes failure. This sets up a cycle that carries on throughout their school lives and into post-secondary education.

The good news is that in Outliers more than in any of his other books, Gladwell proposes some solutions. Some of those solutions are only possible at the societal level (such as grouping students into smaller age-related categories in school). Others are possible at the family and individual level, such as giving people opportunity to practice. Whether it is in reading, math, writing, music, art, or any other area, it is practice (not talent) is the defining difference between mastery and mediocrity.

Bill Gates? He was given the phenomenal opportunity of almost unhindered access to computers at a time when they were extremely scarce. Yes, he was unusually intelligent. Yes, he worked hard and seized those opportunities when they arose. But without the opportunity to practice and to log over 10,000 hours of computer programming time, he simply would not have had the success that he later enjoyed. The practice is what put him over the top.

Bottom Line: Skip, Borrow, or Buy?

I think you should read Outliers. It’s likely to be cropping up in conversations for some time. I’d even go so far as suggest that you get your own copy, as this is likely to be a book that you’ll want to refer to for excerpts often.

Not convinced? You might want to read excerpts from Outliers, as well as Gladwell’s explanation of the book’s premise and arguments.