Gladwell feels there is no such thing as a self-made person because he believes that a person can become successful from the practice and experience he gains through the opportunities life offers him. Similar to Gladwell, I believe that it is not only the opportunities that lead a person to success. Although it may be extremely difficult for a person without those opportunities to achieve success, a person with those opportunities still is not guaranteed success. They must have the passion and inspiration to take advantage of those opportunities. Many great, successful people in the world have practiced for many long, tiring hours to become a master at what they do. Gladwell explains that the ingredients for success are “passion, talent, and hard work,” (Pg. 34). When those are combined with the opportunities given to a person, he or she will be successful in anything they do. When thinking about people who overcame great odds when circumstances were not in their favor in order to attain success, I can’t help but think about my grandfather. In 1958, Tito was in control of Croatia, where my grandparents lived. When my grandmother was pregnant with my mother, my grandfather …show more content…
I definitely believe that much depends on the timing of things. If my grandfather did not escape when he did, who knows if there would be any opportunities in America for him to learn carpentry and make a living. If he did not have the opportunity to escape, I would never have been born. Opportunities are rare, whether they are ideal or not. Escaping from an island on a row boat is definitely not an ideal situation, however, it was still an opportunity that lead him to a successful life. Opportunities come in all different shapes and sizes and it is up to us to take them and thrive. It is our responsibility to recognize an opportunity when it comes to us, because some are a blessing in
I found Gladwell’s first chapter of Outliers entitled “The Matthew Effect” to be both interesting, confusing, and perhaps somewhat lopsided. Based on Matthew 25:2, Gladwell simply explains, “It is those who are successful, in other words, who are most likely to be given to the kinds of special opportunities that lead to further success.” (Gladwell 2008, pg. 30) The Matthew Effect seems to extend special advantages and opportunities to some simply based on their date of birth.
In chapter nine “Marita’s Bargain” Malcolm Gladwell recapitulates his theories from the other chapters of how one grows into becoming successful. Gladwell is convinced that just like Bill Joy spent many hours possible working with computers, the KIPP operates the school all year round to get many learning hours possible. KIPP students have the strict rules of “SSLANT”which stands for helping with social skills. In relative to chapter four “The Trouble With Geniuses” part two Gladwell tells a story about two intelligent men Robert Oppenheimer and Chris Langan, and how improved communication skills helped their success. Knowledge Is Power connotation of KIPP has five pillars in which one is “High Expectations” meaning no matter what other problems one has outside of the school they have to forget about them when in school, and just worry about their education. Comparable to chapter eight with the pilots, they had to learn to speak English while flying planes and not worry about their own language.
Malcolm Gladwell is an extremely successful man himself, although he never directly states his definition of success, it is greatly implied that he believes it to be a combination of opportunity, intelligence, and hard work. Without these these three qualities person has an extremely low likelihood to become successful. His definition is shown in professional hockey players, Bill Joy, Bill gates, and many others.
In “the power of content” chapter, Malcolm Gladwell explains how the conditions and circumstances of the times and places influence to the tipping point. He says that we are sensitive to change of our surrounds. He mentions an example about New York City issue in the 1990s when the area was unsafe. It was a story that after George Kelling, who was a consultant of the New York Transit Authority, promoted “Broken Windows” theory, the crime rate went into decline. This theory was that minor offenses such as graffiti or fare-beating were signals that invited much more serious crime. The NY police maintained strict control over these minor offenses. Policemen arrested fare-beaters one by one, and cleaned the graffiti of the trains. As
When Considering what makes a socially intelligent leader I am reminded of the Trouble Geniuses’ chapter from the “Outlier” written by Malcolm Gladwell, in this chapter meet 2 young men, Chris Lagan who had an IQ of 195, who aced the SAT’s even though he fell asleep in the middle, and was accepted in to Reed College and Robert Oppenhimer who was also brilliant in his own respect and accepted into Harvard. While in college both had struggles, Chris Lagan lost his scholarship after one semester at Reed because his mother forget to fill out financial aid paper work and upon trying again, life showed up for this small town farm boy with little mean and he had to drop out permanently and returned to his small town life; Robert Oppenhimer during his stay at Harvard stole chemicals for the lab and tried to poison his professor, the young man from an affluence home was later acquitted and put on probation at school and would eventually become known as the “Father of the Atom Bomb.” (Gladwell, 2008) So how does arguably the smartest man in the world end up running a small farm in Montana and an attempted murder become a world renown? This is not a story of the rich kid doing better than the poor. Rather, it’s a story about two different kinds of smarts. Our innate analytical abilities and our social
Malcolm Gladwell starts chapter 2 with the story of computer scientist Bill Joy. In 1971 the University of Michigan opened one of the world's most advanced computer centers. Joy was one of the most famous people to ever walk through that university. Gladwell talks about Joys come up and how he made a name for himself and how he was associated with rewriting java and UNIX. Gladwell then ties everything up and mentioning that Joy succeeded in a brave new world where heritage, connections, and status didn’t matter. He did everything based on his talent and he succeeded because he was one of the best at what he did.
The book Outliers explores the concept of success and the social/ cultural constructs that shape and determine whether or not an individual is successful. Gladwell insists that success is not determined solely by a person’s abilities or innate intelligence. Instead, he argues, intelligence and basic skills are the stepping stones for being successful. The remaining factors are things like opportunity, culture, dedication, support, time, upbringing, and luck. Outliers spends a lot of time on the idea of luck or chance determining whether or not an individual will be successful. Gladwell uses the examples of Bill Gates, who would not have had the life he built without existing during the time he did, and the Beatles, who were given opportunities
After reading “The Trouble with Geniuses” Part 1 and 2 in Outliers, Malcom Gladwell leaves us with some unanswered questions. In both chapters, Gladwell explains how being a genius has more to do with just one’s intellectual value. In Part 1, Gladwell tells a story about Chris Langan and how he ended up on a television quiz show. He also reviews Lewis Terman, who studied those with top IQ test scores by following them into adulthood. In Part 2, Gladwell digs into Chris Langan’s life story along with Robert Openheimer, and ultimately compares the two in terms of success. But, what Gladwell leaves behind are some questions about his purpose for writing “The Trouble with Genesis”, Part 1 and 2, who his audience is and
How can a single person analyze and be able to conspicuously influence a group of individuals to start a movement? Malcolm Gladwell provides three rules of starting epidemics by setting up dynamics to be able to make influencing epidemics to alter behavior. The three laws of the tipping point is to understand the law of the few, ensure to leave a lasting impression with the “Stickiness Factor”, and to understand the power of Context.
Malcolm Gladwell’s “Troublemakers” is an article in which he explores the way societies make generalizations. Malcolm explains how Ontario has banned pit bulls due to a boy being attacked and people viewing that one example to be enough to distinguish all pit bulls as vicious and bloodthirsty. He goes on to employ that all dogs even resembling pit bulls or that have some pit bull mixed into them have been banned as well, because anything that looks like a pit bull has now been deemed dangerous for the people in that society. Not only does Malcolm point out other ways societies generalize people, like racial profiling a terrorist, but he distinguishes how steps could have been taken to eliminate the threat of the pit bull but it seemed to just
Even though some argue that Gladwell was too confusing in conveying his opinions about success, they are wrong. Gladwell uses many efficient writing methods and skills such as rhetorical devices and logical appeals to help explain his thoughts in an organized and intellectual manner. He connects each idea thoroughly so that the book flows nicely and is understandable to the reader. Gladwell couldn’t have made his message clearer; success is determined by several different factors, including ones beyond the control of each person themselves. His message makes people think of how they are living their lives and how they could better improve them to become successful. Outliers will continue to convince individuals that success cannot be achieved alone for generations to come.
My dad isn’t someone “famous” in Michigan history or someone who did something others may see as heroic, but he is MY Michigan Hero. He was born on August 5th, 1966 in Jackson, Michigan and is the youngest of four children. Both of his parents worked hard in order to provide for their children as they faced the struggles of the time with a large family to support. From a young age, he learned that a good work ethic was important to have. Andy Kershaw, my father, has always had the drive and passion to succeed. He always encourages me to succeed and become as good a worker and someday, a husband and father, as he is.
In Malcolm Gladwell’s book, The Outliers, he defines success as “a function of persistence and doggedness and the willingness to work hard to make sense of something that most people would give up on” (233). He also argues that there is no such thing as ‘self-made success’ and that there are always hidden advantages that help us to be successful. I also have had hidden advantages like people who always pushed me to do my best and early education of why school is important.
Gladwell demonstrates that hard work does not get people to high places but a series of opportunities and other factors will. What people have grown up to think about hard work is not true and it is demonstrated through these various examples. People will not be able to succeed, practice, and master their skills without opportunities, timing, devotion, and moral support. There is no such thing as “rags to riches” because those people would not be rich unless they had opportunities in their life. Remember that with out these key factors, people will never be able to succeed.
“Effort will get you wherever you need,” you’ve always heard that as a child. In the book Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell , Gladwell shows us examples of how effort is not always the key to success. I agree to some extent with Gladwell’s claim. I agree when he states that the family you are born into can determine your success. On the other hand, I do not agree when he explains that the time you’re born into determines how successful you can become. All the other factors Gladwell addresses vary within the choices of the individual.