My Thoughts on Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
Aaron Sharp | February 2, 2021
Aaron’s Book Reaction Disclaimer: The premise is that one of my readers is asking me questions. For the record, this is just a device I am using to have fun. I’m the one asking and answering. It’s more interesting for me to write them this way, and it gives the other voices in my head a chance to talk.
It’s time for another book reaction. This time it is Outliers: The Story of Success, by Malcolm Gladwell.
This book came out in 2008, why are you just now reading it?
I actually read it when it first came out, but for my second time through I listened to it as an audiobook.
Gladwell was the narrator on this book, isn't it great that some authors read their own audiobooks?
I feel like this is a dig at me for failing the audition for my own book, but I'll allow it because Kirby Heyborne did a better job than I could possible could have.
This is your second reread of the year, what’s up with that?
There are two schools of thought on this. One view says that there are so many good books, don’t wast time on going through a book multiple times. The other view says that you truly need multiple readings to digest and interact with a book. I am sympathetic to both views, but find myself wanting to dedicate a portion of each year’s readings to books that were interesting.
What are your thoughts on Malcolm Gladwell?
Some people love Gladwell, and some people hate him. He's traveled the path that many a person with a public persona has traveled in this country. At first the cool kids loved him, then everyone loved him, and then the cool kids decided it was cool to dislike him. By and large Gladwell does something in his books that I really appreciate - he makes me think. I don't agree with all of his conclusions, but along the way I always find myself examining what he is saying and the world around me.
So then your feelings on the 10,000 hour rule are?
Meh. Yes, practice is a necessary cost of excellence. And talent is also a necessary prerequisite to be at the top of our field. I don't think Gladwell is saying in this book that all it takes is 10,000 hours and anybody can be the best at anything, but this is what the criticisms of him tend to be saying, at least that's what it looks like to me. Anyway, there is something to the idea that if someone is going to do something for 10,000 hours they probably have an aptitude for that thing, and a desire to do that thing. I think 10,000 hours may be as much a sympton as it is a cause.
Where does Outliers rank for you in the Gladwell pantheon?
I've still not ready Tipping Point (coming soon hopefully), so my scale isn't complete, but I would rank Outliers behind Blink and David & Goliath, but ahead of Talking to Strangers. I don't know if What the Dog Saw counts since it is a collection of columns so I leave it out of my ranking.
Is there something that stuck out to you on the reread that you didn't notice the first time?
Yes, and maybe I just noticed this because of the circumstances of the last year, but it is amazing how much community and other people played a role in outliers. Gladwell points this out, but it really is stunning how often the indvidual who stands out is doing so on the backs of so many other people.
What is your favorite part of this book?
This quote. I can't tell you how many people who run businesses would do well to listen to this,
"Those three things—autonomy, complexity, and a connection between effort and reward are, most people agree, the three qualities that work has to have if it is to be satisfying. It is not how much money we make that ultimately makes us happy between nine and five. It's whether our work fulfills us."
I'm fortunate to work somewhere now where I read that quote and think, "Yep, they get that," but that has not always been the case. I would say that businesses that understand those three things are the exception, not the rule.