Theme Of Outliers By Malcolm Gladwell Essay

472 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: summary of malcolm gladwell's outliers

Vivian Gindi

As incoming freshmen with high hopes and motivation, we all have one underlying question: how do we tackle college successfully?

In the book, Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell proposes a theory of success after analyzing many success stories. He claims that the ingredients to success include luck, opportunity, hard work and culture.

Gladwell proves that although luck is a major factor of success, what can make one successful is taking advantage of the opportunities that present themselves due to the lucky circumstances. Bill Gates had a lucky series of events that lead him to who he was. He was fortunate enough to attend a private school that had a computer club, a remarkable occurrence for that time. Jumping on that chance, Gates was the given the opening to work for the ISI (Information Sciences Inc.). He took …show more content…

Undeniably, Gates put in a tremendous amount of effort to reach success. The next principle that Malcolm Gladwell emphasizes in his book is hard work. Once a person is given the opportunities to become the best, what will distinguish the people who will rise to the top are those who work much harder. Gladwell coins the phrase, “10,000 hours,” as the magic number of time it takes of hard work to reach greatness. Without 10,000 hours of practice, no matter how much luck and opportunity is given, one cannot reach the top level. Musicians, including Mozart, have only reached their potential after practicing for ten thousand hours. As a violinist, this principle is clear; when I practice more, I play better and am able to learn more. The more practice we put in, the better we will be. As a college student, it is important to stay on task and master 10,000 hours of whatever that student strives to be good at. It is important to learn this lesson as freshmen so that we can delve into our studies, practices, games and work and hit our

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of Malcolm Gladwell's 'Outliers'

    738 Words  | 2 Pages

    “People don't rise from nothing....It is only by asking where they are from that we can unravel the logic behind who succeeds and who doesn't”(Gladwell 18).

    Read More

  • Tone Of Outliers By Malcolm Gladwell

    117 Words  | 1 Pages

    Malcolm Gladwell, in the nonfiction book Outliers, claims that success stems from where you come from, and to find that you must look beyond the individual. Malcolm Gladwell develops and supports his claim by defining an outlier, then providing an example of how Stewart Wolf looked beyond the individual, and finally by giving the purpose of the book Outliers as a whole. Gladwell’s purpose is to explain the extenuating circumstances that allowed one group of people to become outliers in order to inform readers on how to be successful. The author writes in a serious and factual tone for the average person in society of both genders and all ethnicities who wants to become successful in life.

    Read More

  • Outliers: The Story Of Success, By Malcolm Gladwell

    1013 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the book “Outliers: The Story of Success” authored by Malcolm Gladwell, he explains what an outlier is and what it means to be “successful”. Throughout the novel, Gladwell provides examples by writing different stories in nine various chapters to support his claim. Gladwell believes that success isn’t gained by natural talent, but by the effects of other circumstances and that these people are called outliers. It’s the argument of nature vs. nurture that Gladwell wants to address in his book. Many people in society would think that a particular person is successful due to the individual’s natural talents, although that can be true to a certain extent, Gladwell wants to disapprove that idea in people’s mind and wants the public to look at

    Read More

  • Luck In Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers

    649 Words  | 2 Pages

    In his book “Outliers”, Malcolm Gladwell emphasizes a lot about luck by illustrating the importance of birthdays for Hockey players, by comparing the success of geniuses with super high intelligence, and by showing how successful people got opportunities and support because of their luck. At a glance, every reader can find out luck plays a crucial role in success, but does Gladwell wants us to believe luck is all that matters? Although he emphasizes a lot about luck in his book, I don’t think he believes that successful people are just lucky because every successful people he introduces in his book are not just lucky in their lives, but are great hard workers and risk takers.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of 10 000 Hours By Malcolm Gladwell

    667 Words  | 2 Pages

    Is success is achieved through hard work and dedication? Most people seem to think in this way, only one person who does not think in that way: author Malcolm Gladwell. In his article “10,000 Hours,” he talks about a rule you must follow to be successful; that rule is the 10,000-hour rule. Gladwell uses a study from Anders Ericsson in his article to support his thought; therefore, this article is rhetorically effective because he has credibility and he uses logical evidence to convey his argument.

    Read More

  • Outliers The Story Of Success Essay

    442 Words  | 1 Pages

    Malcolm Gladwell’s overall purpose of Outliers: The Story of Success is that success is largely determined by an individual’s socioeconomic and sociocultural environment, and individual ambition, effort, or talent, are less significant, contrary to the societal notions associated with success. In other words, success is not something that someone randomly gained; success is earned through opportunities that develop dedication, interest, and skill over time. By doing this, will one become an outlier, or “something that is situated away or classed differently from a main or related body,” (Gladwell 3) that distinguishes great from good and best from great, as exemplified by “The striking thing about Ericsson’s study is that the and his colleagues couldn’t find any “naturals”, musicians who floated effortlessly to the top while practicing a fraction of the time their peers did.” (Gladwell 39) Gladwell also acknowledges societal norms such that “All of the fourteen men and woman on the list above had vision and talent,” (Gladwell 62-63) to assert hard work, ability, et cetera can lead to success, but a social environment that offers such opportunities immensely increases the likelihood of success.

    Read More

  • Summary Of Outliers By Malcolm Gladwell

    344 Words  | 1 Pages

    In the book Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, Gladwell gives his viewers many points on his understandings of where success comes from. In his introduction, he believes that the health of the community is a version of success, and he believes that that comes from the connections that the villagers had to their family, friends and neighbors. He also expressed his belief in chapter one that success comes from the small advantages one is born with, but can also be achieved from dedication and hard work. Gladwell used the Canadian Hockey League as a prime example of being born with advantages. He made the argument that the success that these hockey players had generally came from the month in which they were born. The Hockey League cutoff date is January

    Read More

  • Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers

    722 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Essay On Outliers By Malcolm Gladwell

    443 Words  | 1 Pages

    In the book Outliers, written and published by Malcolm Gladwell in association with Little, Brown and Company in 2008. There is a section in the book called the "10,000-Hour Rule'' that explains it takes roughly ten thousand hours of practice to achieve mastery in a field. Does this sort of idea work to acheive greatness in any profession? How does the writer go about figuring out this rule?

    Read More

  • Essay On Outliers By Malcolm Gladwell

    736 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Success is a function of persistence and determination and the willingness to work hard to make sense of something others may give up on” (Malcolm Gladwell Outliers). In the book of Outliers, The Stories of Success Malcolm Gladwell presents an idea of what is success and how it can be achieved. The book poses interesting view on how success is granted by opportunity, skills, social responsibility and creativity. The term outliers stand for something that is “1. Situated away from or classed differently from a main or related body, 2. A statistical observation that is markedly different in value from the others of the sample” (Gladwell, p. 6). The books represent an idea that, opportunity comes to those that are looking for it. So, what set

    Read More

  • 10, 000 Hour Rule Gladwell Analysis

    710 Words  | 2 Pages

    Mozart had several hours of training and practicing the art of composing before he created his first masterpiece, consequently making him more successful than others. Furthermore, Gladwell support also his argument of timing which plays a key role in individual success by using statistical analysis, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs were born not apart from each other and from another set of entrepreneurs, that had great influence in the computer age. Making both an example that being at the right place, time and right age, a key factor in their success. Additionally, Gladwell makes a point that 14 of the 75 richest people in history were born nine years apart. Such as the Rockefellers and the they came of age on one of the greatest economic revolution in American history, such as the build of Wall Street Financial firms and the railroad industry. He argues that achieving success requires a massive amount of practice. Even if they are born with talent, success will be impossible if there was no spare time or a support system that is required to accomplish over 10,000 hours of practice. Gladwell argues that individuals with innate talent will never be successful without practice. There have been studies that found that no experts have rose to the top without many hours of practice. Also, this research has concluded that 10,000 hours is the special number,

    Read More

  • What It Takes to Become a Success: Outliers

    1041 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Outliers: The Story Of Success, By Malcolm Gladwell

    731 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Chapter 8 and 9 of Outliers: The Story of Success, Gladwell exams some of the ways that Asian and American students learn math, arguing that some of the principles in the US education system should be reconsidered. I generally agree with Gladwell’s point of view. I believe in two ways, students ' principal spirit and the length of students’ studying, the US education system leaves much to be desired, though an overhaul is in progress.

    Read More

  • Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers: Cultural Legacies

    749 Words  | 2 Pages

    Once in a while, it really hits people that they don’t have to experience the world in the way they have been told to. Gladwell believes that cultural legacies are powerful forces. Cultural legacies are the customs of a family or a group of people, that is inherited through the generations. According to Malcolm Gladwell’s book, Outliers, Cultural legacies is something that’s been passed down for generations to generations. It depends on what type of legacies was passed that will affect a person. If a good legacy was passed down, someone can keep that legacy going by trying hard at keeping the legacies going. If a bad legacy was passed down; I believe that cultural legacies can be altered or changed, by good working habits, determination, and a positive mindset to succeed. Culture can affect either positively or negatively, but we have the power to turn our cultural

    Read More

  • Famous Celebrities Essay

    703 Words  | 2 Pages

    We usually challenge or make a goal for a lot of benefits for the rest of life, but they didn’t do that. They only had interest for computer and wondered about producing a great system. Steve Jobs and Bill Gates also decided to take a risk which is breaking the school. They actually stopped their study at similar time and started to challenge computer work. Their results were impressive to the world and they became the most famous celebrities in IT. Taking a big risk was great to them and other computer scientists started to challenge by these success. They had a big benefits which are achieve amazing developing or economic success as their

    Read More

More about Theme Of Outliers By Malcolm Gladwell Essay

Open Document