The effects of success and of practice are cumulative. Gladwell also notes that those who start early in their passion or expertise tended to become more successful than those who begin late in life. These are the titular “outliers”: those who were born at the right place and the right time to have an interest that led them to riches and greatness and the culture and aptitude to pursue their expertise to its conclusion. In order to obtain the number of hours necessary to become an expert and in order to have a culture that nurtures your interests, you must be incredibly lucky compared to everyone. Gladwell uses the development of the clothing business in New York City, developed by East European immigrants, as an example of how culture played a role in their success. In addition, some cultures are more predisposed to produce successes in certain fields or subjects than others.īecause we’re all embroiled within our culture from the moment we are born, it might be a good idea to follow your heart so long as your own culture fosters skill development within that interest. Knowing your culture, in terms of its limitations and its advantages, can help you become more successful. Gladwell presents a startling example of airline pilots, accidents, and the cultures that different ethnicities of pilots came from and how all of those factors can affect airline safety. Thus, you must discover what you love to do and focus as much of your time as you can into that subject or skill if you want to become an outstanding success in the field of your choosing. Naturally, most of us will be more willing to put 10,000 hours into a single subject or skill if we love that thing. This is not only an anecdote passed down between cultures but also scientifically valid. Gladwell reiterates the common idea that you need 10,000 hours of experience with something before you can become an expert in that field.

This isn’t to say that personal preparation and practice are not important. You need lots of things going right to produce a person of phenomenal success. Nor can they be fantastically successful just because of their environment or upbringing. One individual cannot be overly successful just because of their grit and determination. More than any single idea, Gladwell presents the concept that individual success is the result of multiple factors mingling and mixing together to form a perfect storm of circumstance and talent. A 3 Minute Summary of the 15 Core Lessons In this book, Gladwell dives into what makes the most successful people so good at what they do and discovers the commonalities they have which provided them with opportunities to succeed.

Outliers: The Story of Success is a 2008 book by journalist and author Malcolm Gladwell.

Malcolm gladwell 10000