"Outliers" isn't a book that i would normally pick up and read so it's a good thing it was chosen by my bookclub. I started out dreading reading it, wondering if i even wanted to know about those factors that have to do with success. And so i began reading....

This is how Malcolm Gladwell defines an outlier: "Outlier" is a scientific term to describe things or phenomena that lie outside normal experience. In the summer, in Paris, we expect most days to be somewhere between warm and very hot. But imagine if you had a day in the middle of August where the temperature fell below freezing. That day would be outlier. And while we have a very good understanding of why summer days in Paris are warm or hot, we know a good deal less about why a summer day in Paris might be freezing cold. In this book I'm interested in people who are outliers-in men and women who, for one reason or another, are so accomplished and so extraordinary and so outside of ordinary experience that they are as puzzling to the rest of us as a cold day in August."

....and i kept on reading...until about two-thirds of the way through the book it clicked for me there somewhere inside my head....i understood those factors that make some people so extraordinarily successful. Gladwell does a great job of breaking down and explaining those factors so that i had no choice but to take a good look at my connection to my own culture, to where i come from.

Perhaps the most interesting chapter in the book was the one about plane where Gladwell shows the clear connection between culture, authority, and plane crashes.

A new way of looking at what factors determine future success.

Gladwell is a very good writer who presents a very compelling thesis, which becomes incredibly personal (for him) in the final chapters. If there is a challenge--flaw is too harsh--to his thesis, however, it is that there seems to be little anyone can do to influence these factors. In other words, this concept only works in retrospect.

Thus, anyone picking up this book to learn how to be more successful will be sadly disappointed. By the time you read it, it will probably already be too late to change the factors."

Once again, Malcolm Gladwell attacks conventional wisdom and common sense.
Gladwell once again uses anecdotal evidence as he demonstrates that success is not necessarily attained as we think it is. While not as conclusive as a pure scientific exercise, Outliers does force us to question our preconceived notions about success.

Another excellent book by Malcolm Gladwell. Listened to the audiobook. Really interesting points are presented to the reader.