Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Essay on outliers book
Outliers book review essay
Outliers book review essay
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Essay on outliers book
In today’s society, people are obsessed with the notion of success and how to achieve it. Many people wonder if there really is a secret to success. According to Colin Powell, former Secretary of State, “There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, learning from failure.” Throughout the book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell proves Colin Powell’s quote to be true. There are no secrets one can use to become successful. Success truly is the result of preparation, hard work and learning from failure. Preparation is a key component of success. Gladwell states, “Achievement is talent plus preparation” (38). While Gladwell’s statement is generally true, psychologists argue that preparation plays a bigger role in achievement than just mere talent (38). According to Outliers, “Ten thousand hours is the magic number of greatness” (41). Gladwell explains that the minimum requirement for mastering a skill is ten thousand hours. Computer scientist Bill Joy and Attorney Joe Flom are no exceptions to this rule. Bill Joy, co-founder of Sun Microsystems, became an expert in computer science in the 1970s well before the personal computer revolution. Bill Joy devoted ten thousand hours to computer programming before rewriting UNIX, an operating system that is still used today. Gladwell quoted David Gelernter stating “Bill Joy is one of the most influential people in the modern history of computing” (37). Joe Flom perfected himself with proxy fights at law firm Skadden, Arps for more than twenty years although they were not norm in the field at the time. By the time corporate takeovers became the standard, Flom was an expert, with over ten thousand hours of preparation (128). Joe Flom is the only surviving partner of Sk... ... middle of paper ... ... aviation English’ (218). By changing the language Korean Air pilots spoke, Greenberg was able to eliminate the different forms of addressing someone and allowed pilots to communicate effectively in plain English. Because Korean Air was able to learn from its failure, Air Transport world awarded it the Phoenix Award (182). Malcolm Gladwell and Colin Powell would both agree, ““There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, learning from failure.” The book Outliers gives several examples that support this idea. Although the idea that success comes as a result of preparation, hard work and learning from failure, Gladwell also argues that there are other contributing factors. However, three common factors exist in examining successful people. These individuals prepared vigorously, worked hard, and were able to learn from their mistakes.
Generally speaking, success isn’t just about what you accomplish in life, it’s how you accomplished it and the impact you
In Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell expresses his theory of success through the 10,000 hour rule that is used to associate practice with success and achieving certain goals. He strives to influence the audience of his point of view and assumptions of successful people throughout the history of the world. Gladwell relates to various historical figures and people of well known talent and intelligence. As the author, Malcolm Gladwell believes to be very knowledgeable, influential throughout the novel. Although he provides interesting facts and statistics to his piece, Gladwell is unable to establish credibility to this information. During college and high school, he did not attain high grades that altered his decision to engage in advertising. After being rejected numerous times, he was later accepted to a journalism position. His insufficient experience and skills contributes to his low credibility and reliability. Gladwell aims to persuade or influence the audience of the importance of practice to fulfill success by also trying to teach the reader new skills. He reaches out to society to capture his inspiring discoveries including young adults in particular who are aspiring to grasp their desired dreams. He introduces the 10,000 hour rule as a goal to reach around the age of twenty or higher. Gladwell compares the lives of professional hockey players, Bill Gates, the Beatles, and Mozart to display their achievements in their later lives due to the amount of experience and practice they were able to endure. He claims that with exactly 10,000 hours of practice, expert level will be sustained in any given skill. Although Gladwell expresses his knowledge and theories of success through devices that exemplify logos and repetition of the 10,00...
In “Outliers” Malcolm Gladwell organizes his argument for their being a rule for overall success by showing statistics of people who are defined as being successful such as Bill Gates, Billy Joy, and The Beatles. He also uses a Berlin music academy to help prove his rule. He presents an argument that Bill Gates and The Beatles and the violinist attending the music academy may have been born with innate talent but that is not the sole ...
People may argue that Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell is all about family background and family legacies. Others may say that what mattered most is the way someone are brought up and how much time and dedication they put into a skill or goal. People may also say that all of these factors are what the book focuses on in order to be successful. The book is not about family background, the “10,000 Hour-Rule”, or “Rice Paddies”. All of those encompass something very important, opportunity to actually apply those theories. The most important theory Gladwell presents is that opportunities are the key to become successful more so than the other theories.
In the minds of many, intelligence not only excels your experience in education, but is also the key to a successful career. In Outliers: The Story of Success, Malcolm Gladwell refutes this thought by expanding on the belief that intelligence can only take you so far, and that creativity and innovation tend to lead to just as much success. This thought process applies to many different levels of life including our interview and acceptance into the ACTION program.
The popular saying “practice makes perfect” has been used for many years encouraging younger generations to strive for success in whatever area they wish to excel in. Success is something everybody in society strides for but some do not know how it is achieved. However, there are many people throughout history who are known for achieving success in many areas. Malcolm Gladwell, a best selling author and speaker, identifies these people as being outliers. Gladwell identifies the word “outlier” in his story Outliers as “a scientific term to describe things or phenomena that lie outside normal experience.” Although Malcolm Gladwell does not establish credibility for himself in his novel, his targeted audience of a younger inexperienced generation feel the need to be informed by his detailed theories about becoming successful and eventually becoming an outlier. Although the reality of becoming successful can depend on instances one can not control, Gladwell tells his readers there is a great portion they can control through his theory, the 10,000 hour rule. He does this by using well presented logical persuasive appeals and interesting rhetorical devices such as: onomatopeias, exposition, and argumentation.
The definition of success varies around the world, but according to Malcolm Gladwell its achievement can be broken down into a few components. Although Gladwell never truly establishes credibility in his book Outliers, he still backs up his proposed theories with reputable studies and sources which intrigue the audience to keep reading.The purpose of Outliers was to enlighten people about the different elements of success while also informing them of real life situations where seemingly less than likely people beat the odds and became the powerful figures that they are today. The intended audience is anyone who is looking to become successful or who is perhaps interested in the idea of success itself and wishes to learn more about it. Understandably, a secondary audience could be high school students who are about to venture out into the world on their own because with this book they will hopefully start paying attention to different factors of their lives and seizing opportunities that they may have otherwise passed up. Malcolm Gladwell talks about the 10,000 Hour Rule and also how I.Q. does not amount to much without creativity. He also speaks of how chance opportunity comes into play and that the distant background of a person still reflects how they handle situations in their present day life. Gladwell’s Outliers successfully informs the reader about the different components that add up to success with probable theories and credible studies to make for an interesting and motivational read.
To give my personal philosophy of success I would first have to define “success”. Success is the accomplishment of an aim or purpose. My success philosophy that I plan on implementing from now on is accepting personal responsibility for the good and bad choices I make. There will be time when I need to focus on school and worry less about my free time. If I have a test to take I have to study for that test to get a good grade and continuous good grades will help me pass the course. I can’t depend on anyone else to do my work for me I’m personally responsible for completing my assignments and turning them in on time. When the weekend comes around and all I do is procrastinate by telling myself I’ll study later. The smart thing to do about this situation would be to think wise and use my time-management strategies. I’ll always have time for myself, so sacrificing some free time now is well worth it. This helps me to be a creator and not the victim about things and keeping up with the self-management strategy. The success strategies that I will use will help my learning style, self-management and self-responsibility. Most people believe success is just having lots of money, cars, and women but I believe success is an individual sport and I have to be ready to play because the outcome of my performance is based on the work I put into it.
Outliers-The Story of Success is a sociological, and psychological non-fiction book, which discusses success, and the driving reasons behind why some people are significantly more successful than others. Malcolm Gladwell explains this by dividing the book into two parts, opportunity and legacy. Opportunity discusses how select people are fortunate enough to be born between the months of January through March, and also includes the idea that those who are already successful will have more opportunities to improve and become even more successful. The 10,000-hour rule proves the idea that in order to become successful in a certain skill, one must have practiced that skill for at least 10,000 hours. In addition to the 10,000-hour rule, timing is also a major component that implies being in the right place at the right time, which brings the author to discuss Bill Gates who was born during the time where programming and computer technology was emerging, therefore sparking his interest in computers, later bringing him to create Microsoft. Another point Gladwell brings forth is the notion of one’s upbringing, race, and ethnicity can be a factor behind their success. And lastly, pursuing meaningful work will cause one to continue working with their skill and not give up. Legacy is a collection of examples that support the idea: values are passed down from generation to generation, which may cause a certain group of people to be more persistent in a skill, or occupation.
If people work hard, focus, and are disciplined, they will succeed in the future. This has become a universal idea taught by parents, teachers, and peers. People have passed down this idea to the younger generations and they chose to live by this moral that makes sense. In Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell debunks the universal idea that working hard will allow people to play hard and get further in life. Gladwell eliminates the traditional ideas of success by showing that opportunities, family background, and being born at the “right” time are actually what lead to success.
Whereas Chua and Rubenfeld provide ample evidence, Malcolm Gladwell's convinces me that his factors are what most determine success. In conclusion, then, as I stated earlier, the factors that most determine success are still an ongoing debate.
He explains that cultural values begin with one’s ancestors and never disappear, even after “economic and social and demographic conditions” change (175). One of the numerous cultural values that transfer to each generation is the Power Distance Index (PDI), a term coined by psychologist Geert Hofstede (204). Countries with a high PDI, such as Colombia and South Korea, show enormous respect towards superiors, and Gladwell indicates the implications of this cultural legacy in the field of aviation (209). During emergency situations, a first officer from a culture with a high PDI is likely to speak unnecessarily respectfully to the Air Traffic Controllers (ATC), which erroneously conveys a tone of nonchalance (194). Gladwell describes tragic cases where miscommunication between the ATC, pilot, and first officer resulted in a plane crash. However, Gladwell emphasizes that pilots from a culture with a high PDI can still succeed in aviation if they are willing to confront their cultural legacy and adapt—which is exactly what Korean Air triumphantly did (220). Korean Air’s triumph over its initial disadvantage emphasizes that even though cultural legacies are unavoidable, they can be overcome and can eventually lead to
The first characteristic needed to excel as an outlier is innate talent. In order to truly excel in anything, one must have the talent to foster success. Gladwell concedes that talent and hard work are factors in success. Human achievements, he argues, demand ability and talent, disciplined by at least 10,000 hours of practice. Having talent alone does not make one successful. Having the fortitude to take advantage of opportunities afforded to you, and the determination to practice for as long as it takes to master your craft is what leads to true success.
“Outliers: The Story of Success” is one of the non-fiction books written by Malcolm Gladwell. In the book, the author examines the factors that contribute to the high levels of success. The author adds that success is combined with a number of key factors such as hard work, opportunity and other factors like when and where the person was born. The books gives an insight into various un-answered questions such as why the majority of Canadian ice hockey players are born in the first few months of the calendar year or how The Beatles became one of the most successful musical band in the world. According to Gladwell, success is not only about innate talent but depends on various external factors and situations.
There are several qualities to have to be successful in college. These qualities can range from attending class to going above and beyond what’s expected. Success comes from the journey taken or the path chosen. Success also comes from being prepared. As a student, I must step up to the challenge and find the path to success along the way. Several ways I define success is to uphold academic integrity, have the ability to prioritize, and to motivate myself to stay on top of what needs to be accomplished.