There have been many rumors about Outlier’s: The Success Story by Malcolm Gladwell, so I decided to give it a read. Basically the material is a compilation of anecdotes and short stories about success and some of the surrounding patterns.
I’m not going to review the book here, but I’ll expand on the main topic of what makes someone successful. The book tells what has become ingrained in many of us: hard work, perseverance, resilience, and opportunity are factors that help determine success.
While this is not always the case, generally someone with significant experience is better versed and qualified in a subject than someone with less experience. Gladwell cites that mastering any subject requires 10,000 hours of practice. Provide examples of successful musicians, athletes, and technology change leaders to whom this applies. I can say that the most skilled and successful tech professionals I have ever worked with started at a young age, experimenting with networks, building and rebuilding computers, and writing applications out of intrigue. If they started a little later in life, they jumped on the topic and applied a strong push to become experts, speeding up their practice hours and narrowing the timeline needed to excel. However, does experience alone make a difference? There are other qualities and traits that I believe help determine a person’s level of success.
- Intelligence – intelligence matters up to a point, beyond a reasonable level, studies don’t seem to indicate much of a difference. Gladwell’s book shows that those of high enough intelligence to be accepted and that completing college is generally the baseline and minimum requirement.
- Mindset / confidence – a person has to be interested in learning, improving and advancing. Success, like most things, can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you don’t believe you have the ability and lack the desire, little will be accomplished.
- Curiosity – learning requires analysis and those who are more inclined to question things tend to be more inclined to expand their knowledge.
- Perseverance / Drive / Passion – We all face setbacks, but those who really thrive are those who don’t allow disadvantages to prevent us from reaching our goals. Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Vincent Van Gogh, and many other successful inventors and leaders in our history had disabilities. The key to its success was the will to overcome these obstacles. The general interest and care of what is being done is important. We are all most successful when we have an interest in what we are doing and a desire to be the best that we can be. In general, we are good at what we like and we like what we are good at.
- Social conscience – understanding our environment, how others perceive us, social and cultural norms are important to interact with others and navigate our success.
- Time / opportunity – Gladwell’s book shows that opportunities are important. Being in the right place at the right time influences what is available. For example, the material describes a situation in which historically certain periods of time allow for better education, due to low attendance at universities.
- Environment While all other bullets have a direct influence on success, I strongly believe that environment is the most influential factor in someone’s success. While there needs to be some degree of skill, interest, and opportunity, I don’t think anything can replace strong models and formal and informal instruction.
There are many quotes and theories as to whether the above traits are innate or something that can be acquired. I think it is a combination of factors. Our past shapes our future and a challenge or difficulty that we face many times puts hands on our future, creating a strong will to change or prove otherwise.
Gladwell, Malcolm. Outliers: the success story. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2008.