Barb Vann's Web Site

In classic Gladwell fashion, he has done thorough research and has raised some thought provoking perspective an what contributes to success. It is not the brightest who succeed,” Gladwell writes. “Nor is success simply the sum of the decisions and efforts we make on our own behalf. It is, rather, a gift. Outliers are those who have been given opportunities — and who have had the strength and presence of mind to seize them.”

He begins by revealing the role that birth date cut off can have on sports. The sports or schools that tend to select, stream, and differentiate end up giving a huge advantage to the small group of people born closes to the cutoff date. The consequence of this is we miss opportunities to lift others to the top rung and we make rules that frustrate achievement. A key question then is; how do you not squander talent based on arbitrary things such as birth date cut off? Gladwell begins to share some of this thoughts on this topic, but clearly it is an area worth additional creative thinking.

He also talks about other concepts relative to the notion of outliers. He brings forward the 10,000 hour rule as the needed amount of time to practice in order to master the skill necessary to be at the top level.

He talks about rice farmers and the three components of meaningful work – autonomy, complexity, and connection.

He talks about “culture of honor” – a world where a man’s reputation is at the center of his livelihood and self-worth. He brings forward the notion that in the back country violence wasn’t for economic gain, it was personal. You fought over your honor. I thought this idea could have merit when trying to identify strategies for reducing the level and amount of violence perpetrated by gangs.

All in all, I found the topic of interest and the ideas presented intriguing to read about. I am still trying to translate some of his concepts and ideas into the world of business where we can use our understanding of outliers to better position people for success. I would be curious to hear your thoughts and ideas on this topic.