What makes a success out of a book about success? In the case of a biography like Jack Welch’s Straight from the Gut, the man himself was a success, known worldwide for the excellence of his leadership. In the case of a practical title like David Allen’s Getting Things Done, almost everyone needs the kind of success that comes from greater personal productivity. In the case of Outliers, the success of this book began many generations ago, when under Jamaican law, the son of a white man and a black woman was considered a free man, not a slave. One such man was Malcolm Gladwell’s great-great-great-grandfather, and he seized the opportunities afforded by his freedom to set his family on a path that led to increasing education and good fortune, culminating in a great-great-great-grandson who writes searching, thoughtful articles and books about culture, each one more successful than the last. Outliers looks at a variety of successes, from winning Canadian hockey players, to the founders of the greatest software companies in Silicon Valley, to lawyers who specialize in corporate takeovers, to disadvantaged children who have no books at home but beat the odds to qualify for scholarships. Gladwell doesn’t spend a lot of time on the qualities these successful people share, or how hard they worked. What he does look at is their origins: the geographic, cultural and historical forces that made it possible for these people’s hard work to bear such fruit. Outliers is a fascinating and highly convincing counter-narrative to the bootstrap idea of the self-made man.

"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.

If you enjoyed The Tipping Point you will enjoy this one. Again, Gladwell gets you thinking.

I like everything Malcolm Gladwell writes . I have read The Tipping Point and Blink and enjoyed them immensely so when I saw this book with my buddy Bob I grabbed it right away. The book talks about how people become successful and how much effort a person needs to put into something to become great. The whole idea of this book is that , although you also need to put in a lot of work to actually become successful , turned out the magic number is 10,000 hours which is the equivalent of doing something obsessively everyday for 10 years, you also need lucky breaks and people connections. Gladwell used Bill Gates as a study case to show how he managed to get where he is today; with hard work, 10,000 hours worth of it, family connections and luck; he happened to be born in the right year, go to the right school and get involved in the right thing at the right time. Fascinating stuff really. The book also discussed athletes , specifically hockey and soccer players and how their birth month played a big role to them being recruited in the professional leagues. Tons and tons of interesting information. Totally enjoyed it as I expected and I look forward to more work from Gladwell.

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

There are no woman in this book!! Dude - you've left out half the population! I can think of many female outliers: ROSALIND FRANKLIN discovered DNA Vandana shiva - Physicist Arundati roy Hilary Clinton, Amelia Earhart bell hooks MARIE CURIE Coco Chanel Malcolm, could you not think of even one???? VERY DISAPPOINTED.

Another great book by Canadian Malcolm Gladwell. His account on airplane crashes and why Asian goods excel in math are amazing. From start to finish, the book gets you within its hooks on the issue of why some people become successful and others do not. A fun well researched book.

The shallow character of this book is refelected in the notes or lack there of. It could be better documented with respect to sources. It is a very entertaining read that actually demonstrates very little that we didn't already know from better sources.