Outliers: definition of success according to malcolm gladwell

Success is a very powerful word which society uses to describe a person that is intelligent or genius. However the book Outliers shows a different meaning for success that most society isn’t familiar with. Outliers show that you don’t have to be born with talent in order to achieve things and to become successful but it is more about taking the time to practice and make the best out of everything. Outliers shows that culture, Timing, and opportunity play a big role in a person’s success and this book supported that with evidence and well known historian that were successful.

In the Outliers written by Malcolm Gladwell which he argues that success isn’t born with anybody and it’s only earned by the different factors that is called Matthew effect. People study the personality, intelligence, and lifestyle of those successful people that everyone believes that they were born with those talents that got them to be successful. But Gladwell used his method to prove that success takes a lot of practice and it also depends on factors such as age, opportunity and the right time. The age plays a big role in most cases as Gladwell described; age plays a big role in different cases such as sports and education. In hockey most players that were born in the early year months such as January, February, and march would most likely have better chance to be picked that the players than the ones that are born at the end months of the year due to the more time of practice that they had by being born almost a year ahead as Gladwell stated. Also in the baseball and the European soccer the players that were born at the beginning of the year most likely will be picked unlike the players that were born at the end of the year, Gladwell shows how age plays a main factor in sports but he also shows how age also plays a big role in education as well. The older the kids are the more things they learn than the kids that are born in the late of months of the year. Elizabeth Dhuey gave example about kids in the fourth grade which she found that the older the kids the more advantages than the rest.

The earlier months of the year that someone was born in the better chances they had in sports and education but age isn’t the only a role in being successful, Gladwell also said that practice, opportunity and good timing are main factors in being successful and play a bigger role in achieving things than being talented. Gladwell stated in order to master anything you have to practice at least 10, 000 hours in anything you want to be successful in. Having a good opportunity plays a big role in being successful as well Gladwell gave us an example showing how bill gates became very successful because of the chance that he had which was having the opportunity to work with computers when he was in eighth grade during 1960s computers weren’t common and not a lot of people had a chance to used them, therefore bill gates had a better chance on everyone else by having a good chance of using computer which made him successful not his talent. Bill gates had a chance to get his ten thousand hours of practice on computers just like Gladwell had said which made him successful and this example support his theory. Another example that supports Gladwells theory are the two richest industrialist in the history which were John Rockefeller, and Andrew Carnegie which the age was the main factor that led to their success. Gladwell used all these examples to support his thoughts; He also said a Genius doesn’t have a better chance of success than that practice for long time. The theory of the outlier matters more than IQ test. In Gladwell opinion IQs set a view limit to the testers thinking, a British Psychologist Liam hudsin explains that a secintist with and IQ of 130 is likely to win a Noble Prize as one whose IQ us 180, Liam shows that a IQ test doesn’t measure how smart or how successful a person could be, just like Gladwell said IQ tests limit your way of thinking, Gladwell stated “ To Be a Noble Prize winner, apparently you have to be smart enough to get into a college at least as good as Natre Dame or the University of Illinois. That all” in this quote he shows how most people look at success in a way that to be successful you have to graduates from a certain school or be as good as someone otherwise you will not be consider as successful which is false in his opinion.

Gladwell believes that every person should be prepared and ready for the right time to achieve their success through one on his logic opportunities. Some parents may work hard to achieve a goal but never actually be successful themselves but they show their kids the way to be successfully which will affect the life of their kids in the long run. By the parents try to be successful this can built a better future for their kids and teaching them how to be successful for their own lives.

Gladwell believes that culture can play a big role in an individual’s success as well, attitude and behaviors that’s being taught in culture can shape the way a person’s reaction to a certain situation, and this can lead the individual to be successful or fail. Gladwell brings in an example about an experiment that was done and it was divided between people in the south and the north and finding out the way each group would react to threat. This experience proved that Gladwells logic was credible, and the results were the people in the south faced the threat with anger and on the other hand the people of the north were calmer and this shows how the culture makes a different in an individual’s opinion. Tradition and attitudes can lead to a person success or failure, because it culture can change the ways people would people with same situation but different ways of facing it. For example Asians are good with math which makes math easy for younger generation than the rest of the other countries, because math is easy for most kids in china shows how culture can also effect the education for better or worse depending on the case that a person is facing.

Gladwell also ends the story of outliers with a personal experience about how he had become famous, which was the help of the people that he knew like his mother, great mother, and great great-mother. His personal shows that no one will make it out alone without an opportunity or a perfect time, and he also said that luck plays a big role in being successful as well.

The Outliers shows helps us understand history by giving stories about the life of big legend that became in power and took over the oil filed which was Rockefeller and the reason that helped him become the person that he was. This book proves facts about successful people and the things that supported them to get to where they were and made them well known to everyone and mostly not because they had talent or were born genius, but more like they had better chances than everyone else during their times.

Gladwell Believes that in order to be successful you need the help from others or have some kind of chance that will get you to be famous, and also believes that being talented isn’t a role in order to be successful. To be outliers you need luck. Everyone needs practice for at least 10 thousand hours in order to be successful at anything in Gladwells opionon. This book gives different stories that show the reader how to become successful without being smart or born with talent but to earn it and always try to find the right timing to be successful and always look out for an opportunity.