A number of authors have recently suggested their opinions of what makes one person more successful than another. In the article, “What Drives Success?” Amy Chau and Jed Rubenfeld state “It turns out that for all their diversity, the strikingly successful groups in America today share three traits that, together, propel success”. When it comes to the topic of how one becomes successful, some are convinced that it has to do with a person’s race, religion, or class. My own view is that success does indeed generate from the triple package: superiority complex, insecurity, and impulse control.
Although I agree with Chua & Rubenfeld’s thesis about the “triple package,” there are some authors who disagree with this line of thinking. For example, Gladwell’s “ The10,000 hour rule” argues that 10,000 hours is the amount of calculated practice time it takes for a person to become exquisite at something, and therefore likely to become a raging, divergent success. To prove this he shows three case studies of phenomenal success: Bill Joy, the Beatles and Bill Gates and how they all practic...
In “The Matthew Effect”, Canadian journalist and author Malcolm Gladwell claims that circumstances determine who is and isn’t successful. In “Mind-sets and Equitable Education”, Stanford psychology professor Carol Dweck argues that those with growth mindsets are more eligible to obtain and experience success than those with fixed mindsets. Although these texts may seem to contradict one another, they are actually similar in many ways.Gladwell’s and Dweck’s texts may differ in the sense that one regards to the circumstances leading to success, meanwhile the other claims that believing in oneself can lead to success, but are quite similar due to the fact that circumstances could help motivate and encourage one to accomplish their goals.
The Beatles, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, professional hockey players, and solo violinists all have one thing in common. Malcolm Gladwell, author of “Outliers”, is able to effectively link these different parties together though his “10,000 Hour Rule”. Gladwell states that, “practice isn’t the thing you do once you’re good. It’s the thing that makes you good” (42). Using rhetorical devices, Gladwell effectively conveys how overall success can be spotted by historical, recurring patterns or events. Malcolm Gladwell has supported himself as a reputable author as well. Using supported statistics, easily illustrated patterns, and well known examples, Gladwell fulfills the logos appeal. Also, due to his very successful works “The Boiling Point” and “Blink”, Gladwell shows his credibility as an author. Gladwell’s main purpose is to teach his audience the pattern of success, and why some people did or did not succeed. This audience is consisted of those who want to succeed, and want to create as many possibilities to reach their goal. Their main values are gaining success for themselves. Another possible audience is a group who enjoys statistics and patterns. These patterns show that around 10,000 of practice in an activity, the person becomes very proficient in that activity. Citing the Beatles, Bill Joy, and Bill Gates as his examples, Gladwell shows that practice can make perfect. Malcolm Gladwell states that to reach a level of expertise, one must practice that activity for 10,000 hours. Using rhetorical devices, tone, and logos, Gladwell efficiently supports his claim of the 10,000 hour rule.
Malcolm Gladwell describes a sure fire way to become an expert in any subject in chapter two of Outliers. He explains that in order to be successful you must work for ten thousand hours. Gladwell is a non-fiction writer who collects research data and interprets it as guidelines to being successful. In the book Outliers he examines dozens of successful people and analyzes their rise to fame and success. His purpose is to identify misconceptions about how to be successful and to praise outliers for beating the odds. His work teaches us how outliers rise against the odds and how to identify their extraordinary luck, opportunity and hard work. His writing enlightens the average reader on how a successful person rose to the occasion and the different factors in their lives that helped them do so. The intended audience is anyone interested in discovering just how much work it has taken in the past to be the best of the best and how to apply oneself. In chapter two of Outliers Gladwell leads us through the lives of computer programmer Bill Joy, world-class violinists, musical genius Amadeus Mozart, chess grandmasters of the twenty first century, internationally popular UK pop band “The Beatles,” and computer genius and former richest man in the world, Bill Gates. Gladwell’s attempt to persuade readers of the ten thousand hour rule is successful because of his use of exemplum, logos and rhetorical question.
We all understand what success is, but what allows for a person to become successful? Malcolm Gladwell wrote his book Outliers to study this topic and settle once and for all why some people are more successful than others. Gladwell uses the success stories of people throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries to discover just exactly what it is that allows for one to be successful. He explains that there is much more to becoming successful than just natural talent and skill. Gladwell states in Outliers that success is the product of the time we were born, our dedication, and most of all where we come from.
In discussions of success, one controversial issue has been what factors most determine success. One the one hand, Amy Chua and Jed Rubenfeld argues that their Triple Package is the key. On the other hand, Malcolm Gladwell contends that culture, practice, and luck are the most essential parts of success. Gladwell states facts, and gives reasoning behind all his stories. In his book, Outliers, he writes “When outliers become outliers it is not because of their own efforts. It's because of the contributions of lots of different people and lots of different circumstances, and that means we, as a society, have more control about who succeeds – and how many of us succeed – than we think.” (pg. 7-8; Reading Group Guide) After reading the entire book, I agree with Malcolm Gladwell when he says that culture, practice, and luck are the most important factors of success.
Most people throughout the world strive for success in each task they take on, and along with this, many reasons contribute to why they succeed or not. If a person does not succeed, they may automatically blame themselves because of their level of strength. Others may blame themselves for not having enough knowledge about what they are trying to succeed at. The real reason that people may not succeed, however, is their lack of determination and happiness throughout his/her journey that is demonstrated in the book Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell. Both knowledge and strength combine to help a person achieve the American Dream because of the will and determination that arises from knowing what a person has and knowing what
Malcolm Gladwell, author of Outliers, gives the definition of an outlier to be “something that is situated away from or classified differently from a main or related body” (3). While he does supply this definition he never specifies what he defines as success. Using his numerous examples of what Gladwell considers to a successful person, it is safe to conclude that his definition would be – success is a mixture of opportunity, intelligence, and hard work. When these three characteristics are combined it equals great success, and cannot be reached with only one or two of these things, all three must be present. Gladwell presents multiple instances where these three qualities contribute to an individual’s success.
It seems our definition of success is related to our own individuality. Our view of success is rooted in the outcome of competition among individuals. Americans seem quick to claim that we have each succeeded through their o...
In the general view today, the majority of people have come to assume that the building blocks of achievement are in the realm of possibility with the charisma and character of the individual. Contrary to this belief, Malcolm Gladwell proclaims in his novel Outliers that achievements are shaped by foreign forces in which certain people are granted particular opportunities and advantages that not everybody is given by chance. In spite of this his formula carries strong evidence in terms of these asserted forces like blatant lucky opportunities, date of birth, and family background assisting to pave the road for achieving success, Gladwell openly dodges the expense of hard-work and persistence. Gladwell’s theory of acquiring success holds some legitimacy, yet he purposely leaves out the quality of a person's individual effort within his analyses. The heart of success is within one's ability to endure through difficulties and misfortune as opposed to it solely being a matter of people taking advantage of various outside
Success has a different meaning for every person on Earth. The majority of people define success as an individual’s “attainment of wealth, favor, or eminence” (Success). In accordance with the rest of society, Malcolm Gladwell defines success as an individual’s accumulation of “a predictable and powerful set of circumstances and opportunities” given by the environment to help a person succeed in the business world (Gladwell 155). Advantages come in the forms of birth dates, learning styles, work ethics, demographic luck, and job needs. Similarly, opportunities given by the environment circulate around a person’s ability to complete “ten thousand hours… of greatness” (41). Before reading Gladwell’s book “Outliers: The Story of Success”, I would have complied with society’s and Gladwell’s
´´ If one advances confident in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life he imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. ’’ These words were spoken by Henry David Thoreau.Success is within the mind of the individual. A large portion of one´s life is spent working to become successful. People are told throughout childhood to work hard so they can grow up and achieve all of their dreams. But success takes many different forms. Different people have different interpretations of what success means to them. It does not matter how related they are to each other in certain áreas they always have a different point of view of what success really is. For some success is measured by social status and wealth
What makes a person successful has been a question that's challenged individuals through the ages. What fuels the force? Malcolm Gladwell's "The Outliers: The Story of Success" suggests many theories and explanations on how one becomes a successful "outlier" of society, by analyzing the triumphs and failures of the people and events of pop
For a long time, the popular myth of success and that of gender have shaped humans’ minds and behaviors in a certain way. They set up a certain behavior model and provide people with an idealized reference for living their lives. However, people put too much emphasis on the bright side of these two widespread but outdated beliefs, and surround themselves in ideal images constructed by the myths. With humans and society marching on, the age-old and deep-rooted myths are not completely suitable anymore. The old fashioned myths have become certain clichés. They sometimes conceal important social realities and convey a false image of what people really think and do. The dissonance between myth and reality sometimes disillusions people and may bring worse outcomes to the society. Wayne Dyer, an internationally renowned author declares, “What we think determines what happens to us, so if we want to change our lives, we need to stretch our minds.” Although part of the myths is still valuable and instructive, in order to make them more tenable, people need to be cautious and critical and be aware of their weakness. Success should be defined not only by wealth and reputation, as the current myth states, but also by personal happiness, which can be achieved through the combination of honesty, hard work, opportunities and s...
What makes a successful person successful? If a person were to explore what it takes to become successful they may come to the conclusion that it takes hard work. In Malcom Gladwell’s novel “Outliers” Gladwell explores this essential question and comes to the conclusion that great success is a product of circumstances and actions “that are out of the ordinary” (Gladwell 17). Gladwell labels successful people as “Outliers” (Gladwell 17) and defines them as “men and women who do things that are out of the ordinary.” (Gladwell 17) In addition, Gladwell goes on to give examples of such people, and begins with hockey players and states that “it is only by asking where they are from that we can unravel the logic behind who succeeds and who doesn’t” (Gladwell 19). Furthermore, Gladwell comes to the conclusion that Hockey players born in the first three months of a year have a much higher percentage chance of playing professional hockey. These are the people which are products of circumstances that were out of the ordinary and out of their control.
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.