Outliers: The story of Success

by Malcom Gladwell

The 10,000-Hour Rule

In looking at lots of different areas, from computing, business through sport, to music there seems to be a magic number of 10,000 — the number of hours ‘masters’ of their chosen area have put in.

Timing - Where, and the year you were born can influence your luck/opportunity.

Upbringing leads to opportunity

Sociologist, Annette Lareau studied 3rd graders in a long term ethnographic study. She concluded that involved parents vs. non-involved parents was the key difference that led to an individual’s success in life

Meaningful work makes you want to ‘put in the hours’. Sociologist, Louise Farkas studied the family tree of many immigrants and found that their offspring became professionals. She put it down to the fact that it was because of their humble origins not inspite of it that they did well — i.e. they had been raised in a family where hard work was valued and practiced.

When opportunity presents itself, seize it.

There is no short-cut to mastery than ‘putting in the hours’

1. Opportunity knocks for some — often quite arbitrary (e.g. birthdates, in the right place etc)

2. Timing — Critical to success and opportunity.

3. Upbringing leads to opportunity — The quality of upbringing a child has been shown to be a key determinant on future success (even more so than pure IQ).

4. 10,000 hours — it typically takes that amount of time to ‘master’ something. People with opportunity have the chance to ‘do’ the 10,000 hours. Others don’t.

5. Meaningful work — If you feel there is real purpose to your work, it’s more likely you will work hard.

6. Legacy — Our Values drive our behaviour. Our values are often passed down from generation to generation (e.g. The Koreans are very deferential to authority, which led to a series of plane crashes; Asians reliance on rice meant they learned the value of hard work and perseverance — which shows through in their better ability at maths (also their language helps).

The stories of success show that is not the brightest who succeed nor is the success simply the sum of the decisions and efforts we make on our own behalf. Outliers are those who have been given opportunities - and who have had the strength and presence of mind to seize them.