The True Outliers: Michael Jackson An Outlier

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Outlier. An outlier is someone who is not considered to be a normal person within society. They have qualities that most people do not obtain. They are the most successful of individuals and many aspire to be them. Michael Jackson is the epitome of what I believe is a true outlier. In his best-selling novel, Malcolm Gladwell stated that we tend to spend more time looking at individuals success rather than looking at things that ultimately contributed to that success, such as their family, birthplace, and even birth date. Michael Joseph Jackson was born in Gary, Indiana on August 28, 1958. He grew up in a small scale two bedroom house that was within a substandard neighborhood with this eight brothers and sisters, along with their parents …show more content…

However, what attributed to Michael Jackson’s success was not because he got lucky, it is simply because he practiced hours and hours at his craft and essentially where he was born and raised. Michael wasn’t just blessed with an impressive dance skill set, behind those flashy dance moves was hard work and dedication. At the early age of 5, Michael Jackson studied and was inspired by the late great icon James Brown. Jackson studied the musicians legendary singing, dancing, and even his mannerisms while he was performing on stage. While Michael was studying the late singer, he had a hunch that he wanted to achieve major stardom in the same fashion as James Brown. In Malcolm Gladwell’s book, The Outliers, he addressed the 10,000 hour rule. He indicated that it takes roughly ten thousand hours of practice to achieve full mastery in a field. It’s easy to assume that Michael simply just had a natural ability to sing and dance, but we tend to overlook the endless amount of hours this man has put forth to become so successful. The most compelling evidence that contributed to his success was his ability to have room for error and think of new ideas. Michael was constantly searching and constructing new dance moves/routines to perform to his audience. In addition, he always eager to

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