This is the third book of Malcolm Gladwell, and it’s three in a row for books of his that I’ve truly enjoyed. He has a unique way of unveiling the assumed and revealing the patterns and reasons we don’t realize are present.

In Outliers, Gladwell examines success stories. One of the most well known characters in the book is Bill Gates. The book is an easy read of complex subject matter. Gladwell is a master storyteller, and he weaves compelling narratives around empirical research to engage the reader. You’re drawn deep without realizing you’re enjoying sociology.

One paragraph toward the end of the book summarizes his findings succinctly:

Superstar lawyers and math whizzes and software entrepreneurs appear at first blush to lie outside ordinary experience. But they don’t. They are products of history and community, of opportunity and legacy. Their success is not exceptional or mysterious. It is grounded in a web of advantages and inheritances, some deserved, some not, some earned, some just plain lucky – but all are critical to making them who they are.

Gladwell’s conclusions are remarkable, but they are not new. Throughout the book, I caught myself nodding as his meticulous research and narrative simply verified a much older assertion:

Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. (Proverbs 19:21)

And…

The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps. (Proverbs 16:9)

During late May, I finished reading Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcom Gladwell. I read about the book in a series of columns that Bill Simmons did with Malcom Gladwell. Rather than doing a podcast, the two of them did three columns of over 9,000 words back and forth.

Gladwell looks at why some people succeed, while so many more never reach their potential. He suggests that superstars are invariably the beneficiaries of hidden advantages, extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies that allow them to learn, work hard and make sense of the world in ways others cannot.

As a parent, his thoughts on how opportunities and repetitions make people successful struck a chord with me. With one of my goals in life is to support Jack, Drew and Morgan to be as successful as possible, it provided some thoughts about how this might be accomplished.

This is a light, quick read; I finished it in four days. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed the book. I highly recommend it and I am going to add his other two books to my pile to read in the future.

Gladwell’s latest does not disappoint! Outliers is possibly my favorite of his already. I’m a fan of Gladwell because he explains complex (and debatable) social theories through anecdotes. He writes simply and matter-of-fact-ly for the lowest common denominator, but the ideas are HUGE.

A friend of mine was afraid to read this book, believing Gladwell’s hypothesis (that certain conditions give certain people unfair advantages, allowing them to achieve greatness with greater ease that the rest of us) had a defeatist tone. It does not.

Gladwell’s explanation gives hope for us all and lessons for our futures, like how to raise our children for success and, of course, how to succeed. There is hope for everyone and Gladwell’s personal anecdote at the end capped it off (and surprised me). Outliers might be a non-fiction book, but its more of a collection of short stories with an overarching theme. The stories just happen to be true. HIGHLY recommended.

I’ve read all of Gladwell’s books, which are very quick reads. I appreciate the books of this genre that encourage the reader to think a little deeper or to question how and why things happen as they do.

My favorite chapter was on the pilots and what are elements for tragic plane wrecks. It’s fascinating and now I’d like to read some of the other books he’s quoted throughout the book.

I recently read he was going to be working on a book about cultures, which I am already excited at the possibility of. Until then I’m reading his blog for updates.

Probably a better work than either The Tipping Point or Blink. Well-written, and entertaining, but not without its flaws. One of the big problems is that Gladwell seems to fall into the classic blunder of thinking that the plural of “anecdote” is “data”.

In a few places his assertions about factors that influence people’s success are backed up by science, but in many cases it’s not clear that they are. One will often find instances of “hey, look at these 3 Jewish families – there are lots of siblings who are doctors and lawyers, so being Jewish during a certain period in New York increases the likelihood that your kids will be professionals”. Now, maybe that’s the case. Unfortunately, it’s not the sort of thing that can be determined by looking at a handful of examples, and Gladwell never makes it clear to the reader that any more rigorous analysis was performed.

That being said, the book was fun to read in spite of these little niggles – I enjoy Gladwell’s conversational writing style, and the subject matter was very interesting, even if I wouldn’t necessarily take the book as an authoritative reference.