Outliers: The Story of Success, by Malcolm Gladwell

A meta-review

Outliers: The Story of Success, written by Malcolm Gladwell, was released in South Africa in August 2009. It currently occupies the 7^th position on the local non-fiction bestseller chart.

What is it all about?

Gladwell defines "outliers" as people outside the norm; “men and women who, for one reason or another, are so accomplished and so extraordinary and so outside of ordinary experience that they are puzzling to the rest of us”.

General opinion holds that ambition and intelligence are the keys to success. But if this were true, why are not all ambitions and intelligent people worth as much as, say, Bill Gates?

Gladwell argues that, instead of focusing only on the characteristics, habits and personality traits of those who get ahead, attention should also be paid to their culture, community, family and generation.

It is not that Bill Gates’ talent and intelligence do not count in his favour, but he also had the opportunity to attend a good school where he could master the art of computer programming, and at a time when that experience was extremely rare.

Gladwell examines the contextual factors surrounding a diverse range of ‘outliers’ – from Christopher Langan (sometimes known as "the smartest man in America", with an IQ of between 195 and 210) and American physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, through to Canadian ice hockey players and The Beatles.

Who is the author?

Malcolm Gladwell has been a staff writer with The New Yorker magazine since 1996. In 2005 he was named one of TIME Magazine’s 100 most influential people.

His two previous books, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference and Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking were number-one New York Times best sellers.

What do others say?

Outliers: The Story of Success was generally well received. It debuted at number one on The New York Times best-seller list and held that position for eight weeks.

Praise for the book centred mostly around the fact that it is an easy read, and that the book is written in an accessible style.

Gladwell is said to have put a new spin on the concept of success, with a wide range of case studies that leads one to question, among others, policy formulation – particularly with regard to training and development.

Criticism was levelled at the lack of contradictory data offered in the book, and the fact that Gladwell’s conclusions are hardly novel.

In summary, although Outliers: The Story of Success will probably not revolutionise your thinking about success, it is likely to be an entertaining read that, at the very least, will make you feel justified for not being a genius.

Reader’s Digest: “He has a knack for upending conventional views, in prose more like a novelist’s than a researcher’s.”

The Observer: “His case studies are well chosen… His range is wide, and he writes as well in Outliers about sport as he does about corporate law firms in New York or aviation.”

Member review on LibraryThing: “While he doesn’t make recommendations for overcoming factors that may hinder success, his insights should help those who are looking to improve schools, businesses, and others who see stumbling blocks in the way of success.”

The New York Times: The book “avoids grappling in a few instances with research that casts doubt on those theories”.

Squeezed Book: “The truth is that the stories expressed in Malcolm Gladwell’s books, while compelling and mildly entertaining, are far from revolutionary… A book by Malcolm Gladwell is unlikely to require analytical thinking, tell you something you don’t already know or make a statement that you might disagree with.”

How do I get hold of it?

Outliers: The Story of Success is published in South Africa by Penguin Books. It is available at Exclusive Books at a recommended retail price of R170.00.